Private Equity
Novacap has acquired Hallcon Corp, a specialist in employee transit services, making good on a pledge to expand its pan-Canadian private equity deals through a recently opened office in Toronto. The firm announced this week that Novacap Industries IV bought Hallcon in partnership with the company’s management team, Export Development Canada, BMO Capital Partners and other investors.
3 min read · 06 August 2015
The previously-announced acquisition of U.S. business software maker Informatica Corp by European private equity firm Permira and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has been closed. The deal, which was joined by Microsoft Corp and Salesforce Ventures, was valued at about US$5.3 billion. As a result, Informatica’s shares will cease trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "INFA." Anil Chakravarthy, Informatica's chief product officer, will now serve as acting CEO, the company also announced. CPPIB's Mark Jenkins said the pension fund manager will support Informatica "in its vision to become a multi-billion dollar leader in the broader data integration space.”
5 min read · 06 August 2015
Mavis Tire Supply LLC, a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm ONCAP, has bought Somerset Tire Service Inc, a 157-store tire retailer with locations across New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. ONCAP partnered with its investors and Mavis' founders, the Sorbaro Family, to invest a total of US$48 million in the acquisition. Based in Millwood, New York, Mavis is an independent tire retailer and wholesaler. ONCAP, the mid-market platform of Onex Corp, has backed the company since October 2014. Mavis is also a portfolio investment of Canadian private equity firm Penfund. Last month, ONCAP acquired Chatters Canada Ltd.
2 min read · 05 August 2015
Nest Wealth Asset Management Inc, an online automated financial advisor, has secured $1.5 million in financing from Metroland Media Group Ltd. Founded last year by CEO Randy Cass, Nest Wealth uses technology to provide customized and lower-cost wealth management solutions to Canadian investors. The partnership with Metroland is intended to support the company's growth, in part by leveraging Metroland's print and digital properties. Nest Wealth has its headquarters in Toronto.
3 min read · 04 August 2015
Affiliates of Toronto-based private investment management firm Gibraltar & Co Inc have filed a preliminary prospectus with Canadian securities regulatory authorities for an initial public offering (IPO). The IPO seeks to raise $100 million for Gibraltar Growth Corp, a special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) geared to North American consumer-facing companies with an enterprise value of up to $750 million. Among the SPAC's directors is Cam di Prata, founder and CEO of Gibraltar. As reported by peHUB Canada last year, di Prata and other business executives were responsible for seeding Gibraltar Ventures, an investor in consumer-focused technology companies.
6 min read · 04 August 2015
Canadian private equity firm Novacap has acquired Hallcon Corp, a Canadian provider of specialty outsourced services to the railway and transit sectors in North America. The firm's latest fund, Novacap Industries IV LP, which last October completed a $300 million first close, carried out the undisclosed deal in partnership with the company's management team, Export Development Canada, BMO Capital Partners and other institutional partners. The seller in the transaction was U.S. private equity firm Southfield Capital, which acquired majority ownership of the Toronto-based Hallcon in May 2011. In a statement, Southfield said the company's EBITDA grew four times during its investment.
4 min read · 04 August 2015
Life sciences venture firm Genesys Capital, which has recently tied up a number of lucrative exits, will chalk up another with the proposed sale of a U.S. antidepressant drug maker. This week, Allergan said it would spend US$560 million upfront to acquire Naurex. The deal promises to give the Toronto-based Genesys as much as 15 times its invested capital.
3 min read · 31 July 2015
Deal-making activity in Canada’s venture capital and private equity arena surged in the first half of 2015, driven by a spate of financings in the tech start-up space and large investments in energy assets, data from Thomson Reuters showed this week.
2 min read · 28 July 2015
Canadian agriculture biotechnology company Inocucor Technologies Inc, which raised undisclosed funding earlier this year, said it expects to close a Series B round during the second half of 2015. It said the raise will be "on the order of $15 million." Headquartered in Montréal, Inocucor develops sustainable bio-based products that improve crop yields, shorten growing periods and create healthier, more resilient soils for farmers. It recently received an initial U.S. patent for its proprietary technology. Cycle Capital Management, a Canadian venture capital firm, led Inocucor's earlier rounds of financing. It was joined in the February 2015 investment by Desjardins-Innovatech.
3 min read · 28 July 2015
GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc (TSX: GDI), which recently completed a going public transaction, has agreed to buy Ainsworth Inc, a provider of a range of technical services to commercial, government and residential building clients in Canada. GDI will pay about $20.5 million for Ainsworth, currently a subsidiary of CEDA International Corp. The deal is expected to close later this year. The Montréal-based GDI said the acquisition will significantly enhance its commercial facility services offering. The company, which merged with Medwell Capital Corp in May, remains a portfolio investment of Canadian private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners.
4 min read · 24 July 2015
