Private Equity
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) and Spanish banking group Banco Santander SA have launched Cubico Sustainable Investments, a firm established to invest in and manage global renewable energy and water infrastructure assets. Owned equally by Ontario Teachers, PSP and Santander, Cubico is led by Santander's former infrastructure investments team. It begins operations with a portfolio of wind, solar and water infrastructure assets previously owned by Santander and valued at more than US$2 billion. Based in London, Cubico will also have offices in Milan, Sao Paulo and Mexico City.
6 min read · 28 May 2015
Koho, a Canadian technology-driven banking platform, has raised its first venture capital financing. The startup secured $1 million from a mix of Canadian angel investors and funds, including Joe Canavan, Ferst Capital, Hedgewood, Highline and Stanley Park Ventures. Based in Vancouver, Koho is a developer of technology that aims to give consumers, and especially millennials, a low-cost and modern alternative to traditional bank accounts. The company was co-founded in late 2014 by CEO Daniel Eberhard and Directors Jonathan Bixby, Mike Benna and Joshua Bixby. It is part of the financial technology cluster launched by MaRS Discovery District in February.
3 min read · 28 May 2015
Canadian e-commerce and retail software company Shopify Inc (NYSE: SHOP) (TSX: SH) has wrapped up its initial public offering, raising a final total of about US$150.5 million in gross proceeds. It was earlier reported that the company raised about US$131 million. Based in Ottawa, Shopify is led by founder and CEO Tobi Lütke. Launched in 2004, the company’s Canadian and U.S. venture capital investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Felicis Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Georgian Partners, Insight Venture Partners and OMERS Ventures.
4 min read · 27 May 2015
Online lending platform Mogo Finance Technology has filed a prospectus to launch an IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange, suggesting it may be the next Canadian technology startup in line to go public this year. While its investors have not been fully identified, Mogo's prospectus notes that the company is currently drawing on credit facilities arranged by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group.
2 min read · 22 May 2015
Bell Canada and the Kilmer Group, the private equity firm of Canadian businessman Larry Tanenbaum, have agreed to purchase the Toronto Argonauts Football Club of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The seller in the transaction, the financial details of which were not disclosed, is sports entrepreneur David Braley. Founded in 1873, the Toronto Argonauts are North America's oldest continuously operated professional football club. They have won the CFL championship game 16 times. The acquisition is expected to close before the end of 2015.
5 min read · 22 May 2015
GreenSoil Investments, a global private equity and venture capital firm that opened a Toronto office in April 2014, has launched is third fund, GreenSoil Building Innovation Fund. The fund, which raised an initial US$25 million, will invest in North American and international companies that generate returns for real estate owners, operators, and developers through innovation, smart resource utilization, and efficiency improvements. It is targeted to raise US$80 million to US$100 million in a final closing. GreenSoil, which was founded by Alan Greenberg and Gideon Soesman in 2011, also has offices in Israel and the Netherlands.
3 min read · 21 May 2015
Avrio Capital and Clairvest Group are the 2015 recipients of the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association's (CVCA) “Deal of the Year” awards. Calgary-based Avrio won in the venture capital category for last year's sale of Wolf Trax Inc, an agricultural technology provider, to Compass Minerals. The deal gave Avrio 15.4 times its invested capital and an internal rate of return (cash and total) of 138 percent. Toronto-based Clairvest won in the private equity category for last year's sale of KUBRA Data Transfer Ltd, a provider of outsourced billing solutions, to Hearst Corp. The deal gave Clairvest 13.4 times its invested capital and an internal rate of return (cash and total) of 40 percent.
4 min read · 20 May 2015
Vistara Capital Partners, a newly formed growth investor in late-stage technology companies, has raised most of the capital targeted for its inaugural fund in an initial close. The Vancouver-based firm announced this week that Vistara Capital Partners Fund I LP has secured $80 million in committed capital, putting it within reach of an overall goal of $100 million.
3 min read · 20 May 2015
Some senior professionals at Tricor Pacific Capital have pooled their financial and operational resources to create a new investment vehicle with a unique market focus. Launched last fall, Tricor Pacific Founders Capital is a long-term niche investor in North America's food and consumer packaged goods sector. And it has a secret weapon: Managing Director Richard Harris.
3 min read · 15 May 2015
Eigen Innovations Inc, a provider of software solutions for the Industrial Internet, has secured a $250,000 investment from New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF). The company, which is based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, will use the proceeds of the deal to help manufacturers improve their productivity by making big data analytics easy to use in their operations. Founded in 2012, Eigen was spun out of the work of researcher and co-founder Dr. Rickey Dubay at the University of New Brunswick.
2 min read · 14 May 2015
