Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has agreed to acquire a 44 percent interest in Greenstone Ltd, an Australian designer, marketer, distributor and administrator of personal insurance products. No financial terms were disclosed. Established in 2007, Sydney-headquartered Greenstone is led by Founders Richard Enthoven and Gavin Donnelly, who will remain the company's majority shareholders. Caisse de dépôt has been active in Australia since 2012 and opened an office there last year. Its recent Australian deals include last November's investment in the 99-year lease of TransGrid, an electricity transmission network operator.
3 min read · 07 June 2016
Montréal-based carpooling app Netlift has closed the first tranche of a $1.3 million seed-stage financing. The tranche was backed by Cycle Capital, Sustainable Development Technology Canada and several angel investors. They join existing investor BDC Capital, which earlier provided convertible notes funding. Established in 2012, Netlift is developing a mobile app that supports more efficient commuting, along with a payment system and communication option for users. It plans to use the funds raised to further develop the app, target new addressable markets, and prepare to enter the Ontario market before the end of 2017.
3 min read · 07 June 2016
Canadian clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Vitaeris Inc has secured about $9 million (US$7 million) in seed-stage financing. The backers of the round included the company's founding investor HBM Healthcare Investments AG, a Swiss healthcare venture capital firm. Founded earlier this year, Vancouver-based Vitaeris said the funds raised will allow it to initiate operations and advance its monoclonal antibody therapeutic candidate, clazakizumab, into clinical studies. Discovered by and licensed from Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc, the therapeutic is intended to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.
4 min read · 06 June 2016
SterlingBackcheck has acquired RISQ Group, an Australian provider of employment background check services in the Asia-Pacific region. No financial terms were disclosed. New York-based SterlingBackcheck, which operates in the same industry, said the deal builds on two prior acquisitions intended to expand its global footprint. SterlingBackcheck is a portfolio company of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Goldman Sachs. The latter jointly bought a majority interest in the company in June 2015.
3 min read · 06 June 2016
Global real estate assets overseen by fund managers had a gross value of €2 trillion ($2.9 trillion) in 2015, according to the INREV-ANREV-NCREIF Fund Manager Survey 2016. That's 10 percent more than the €1.8 trillion recorded the year before. Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management held onto its first-place ranking last year, followed by New York's The Blackstone Group. The survey, which received responses from 154 fund managers in North America, Europe and Asia, found that the top 10 investors held about 40 percent of total real estate assets under management.
4 min read · 06 June 2016
Belton, Missouri-based Safe Fleet has acquired FleetMind Solutions Inc, a Canadian manufacturer of wireless enabled on-board computers, driver terminals, and automation software for trucks. No financial terms were released. Safe Fleet, which owns a portfolio of brands targeted to fleet vehicle manufacturers and operators, said the deal supports its emphasis of safety solutions and expands its presence in the waste and recycling market. It added that FleetMind will retain its Montréal headquarters and leadership. Safe Fleet was formed in 2013 when The Sterling Group, a U.S. private equity firm, acquired ROM and SMI from Century Park Capital.
3 min read · 06 June 2016
The Ontario government has appointed Alan Hibben to the board of trustees of OPTrust, which invests and manages $18.4 billion of assets on behalf of OPSEU Pension Plan. Hibben has over more than three decades served in a number of senior executive roles in the financial industry. They include his role as head of RBC Capital Partners, the private equity and venture capital investment arm of the Royal Bank of Canada. Hibben was the group's CEO between 2000 and 2009.
2 min read · 06 June 2016
The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has unveiled a new brand identity aimed at making its role and product offering better known to more entrepreneurs across Canada. Market research conducted in 2014 on the awareness of the bank suggested that entrepreneurs were not familiar with the firm and its services, BDC said. It plans to improve awareness with the new brand and a related advertising campaign. BDC Capital, the bank's investment arm, provides equity, quasi-equity, other types of financing and advisory services to small and medium-sized companies across Canada.
3 min read · 06 June 2016
The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has unveiled a new brand identity aimed at making its role and product offering better known to more entrepreneurs across Canada. Market research conducted in 2014 on the awareness of the bank suggested that entrepreneurs were not familiar with the firm and its services, BDC said. It plans to improve awareness with the new brand and a related advertising campaign. BDC Capital, the bank's investment arm, provides equity, quasi-equity, other types of financing and advisory services to small and medium-sized companies across Canada.
3 min read · 06 June 2016
Canadian medical marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis Inc (CSE: ACB) has agreed to receive a draw-down equity facility of up to $5 million from Alumina Partners, a U.S. private equity firm. Founded in 2013, Aurora operates a 55,200 square-foot production facility in Mountain View County, Alberta. It said the proceeds of Alumnia's investment will provide the company with the financial flexibility and working capital required to pursue its business strategy.
3 min read · 06 June 2016
