Mark Jenkins, head of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s private investments group since early 2015, has been hired by U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group as managing director and head of global credit. He will be replaced at CPPIB by Shane Feeney, who was previously a managing director and head of direct private equity. While at CPPIB, Jenkins was responsible for a number of major deals, including the pension fund's US$12 billion purchase of Antares last year. Other announced changes to CPPIB's senior management team include the appointment of Graeme Eadie to senior managing director and global head of real assets, and the appointment of Ryan Selwood to the role exited by Feeney.
3 min read · 12 September 2016
Canadian alternative data platform Quandl has secured $12 million in Series B financing, bringing its total funding to more than $20 million. India's Nexus Venture Partners led the Series B round and was joined by U.S. venture capital firm August Capital, which led Quandl's Series A financing in late 2014. With the deal, Naren Gupta of Nexus Venture has joined the company's board. Founded in 2012 by CEO Tammer Kamel and CDO Abraham Thomas, Toronto-based Quandl provides financial, economic and alternative data-sets to investment professionals. It plans to use the funds raised to expand its data coverage.
3 min read · 12 September 2016
An affiliate of Tata Power Co Ltd and ICICI Venture have launched a platform company to invest in power projects in India over the next two to three years. The platform, which will focus on acquisitions of controlling stakes in power generating companies, reflecting conventional thermal, hydroelectric and transmission assets, has raised initial capital of up to US$850 million. The amount may be increased in the future, depending on market opportunities. The platform's backers include the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Earlier this year, the Caisse opened its first office in India to scout for deals in the region.
7 min read · 12 September 2016
Canadian business software maker OpenText Corp (TSX: OTC, NASDAQ: OTEX) has agreed to acquire Dell EMC’s enterprise content division, including Documentum, for US$1.62 billion. The deal is expected to close within 90 to 120 days. Waterloo, Ontario-based OpenText said the acquisition will deepen its enterprise information management offering with a portfolio focused on enterprise content and information life cycle management. Dell EMC is an affiliate of Dell Technologies Inc, a U.S. computing solutions company. Dell was taken private in late 2013 by Founder and CEO Michael Dell and U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake.
5 min read · 12 September 2016
Ottawa-based subscription software company Fusebill Inc has raised $6 million in financing. ScaleUp Ventures and Langdell Investments led the round. OMERS Ventures and BDC Capital also invested. ScaleUp GP Kent Thexton and Langdell Principal Pratik Budhdev joined the board as a result of the deal. Founded in 2011, Fusebill provides a software platform that simplifies subscription, one-off and customized billing management for small businesses by automating many manual accounting, financial processes and workflows. It plans to use the funds raised to support product development, accelerate sales, and anticipate increased demand.
3 min read · 12 September 2016
Serious Integrated Inc, a human-machine interface and communications platform, has secured US$5 million in a Series A financing. The round was led by Canadian venture capital firm McRock Capital. With the deal, McRock's Scott MacDonald and Whitney Rockley will join the company's board. Chandler, Arizona-based Serious was founded in 2008 by CEO Terry West. It is focused on developing technology that enables original equipment manufacturers to transform their products into smarter, highly-connected digital age devices. McRock made its investment in the company via McRock iNFund LP, which raised $65 million in a final close last year.
3 min read · 09 September 2016
Canadian specialty aviation services provider Discovery Air Inc (TSX: DA.A) has agreed to sell its fire services business to MAG Aerospace Corp. The deal, which has a total consideration of about $15.38 million, is expected to close by November. Toronto-based Discovery said the sale will allow it to focus on the strategic growth of its core businesses and reduce debt. Discovery is majority-owned by Canadian private equity firm Clairvest Group. MAG, a Woodbridge, Virginia-based provider of outsourced specialty aviation and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services, is also backed by Clairvest.
7 min read · 09 September 2016
3 min read · 09 September 2016
Sterling Talent Solutions, formerly known as SterlingBackcheck, has bought Verified Person Inc, a U.S. pre-employment background screening and verifications company. No financial terms were disclosed. Based in New York, Sterling Talent is a provider of background screening and human resources solutions. It is backed by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Goldman Sachs, which acquired the company in mid-2015. Sterling Talent changed its name after merging with TalentWise in January.
3 min read · 09 September 2016
Mike Shaver, director of engineering at Silicon Valley social media and social networking platform Facebook, has joined the investment team of Canadian venture capital firm Real Ventures. He assumed the role of general partner and will operate from the firm's office in Toronto. Over the past five years, Shaver led the development of Facebook Mobile. Prior to then, he was a senior technology executive at Mozilla Corp and Zero Knowledge Systems Inc. In August 2015, Montréal-based Real Ventures raised $89 million for its third early-stage fund, Real Ventures III.
2 min read · 09 September 2016
