Private Equity
Sysomos has separated from Marketwired Inc, a portfolio company of OMERS Private Equity. Going forward, Sysomos will operate as an independent business led by former Microsoft Corp executive Lindsay Sparks as its CEO. With the support of OMERS Private Equity, it plans to accelerate growth by expanding the company's global team, releasing new product innovations, and making major investments in research. Founded in 2007, the Toronto-based Sysomos is a provider of social media analytics and monitoring. It has grown its revenue more than 1500 percent since the company was acquired by Marketwired in 2010, Sysomos said. OMERS Private Equity is an investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.
3 min read · 10 February 2015
G1 Therapeutics Inc has raised US$33 million in a Series B financing led by Eshelman Ventures and RA Capital Management. Joining the round were new investors, including Canadian life sciences venture capital firm Lumira Capital. Other investors included Tavistock Life Sciences' Boxer Capital, Hatteras Venture Partners, MedImmune Ventures and Mountain Group Capital. Based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, G1 Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical company developing small-molecule therapies to address significant unmet needs in oncology. Its lead program, G1T28, is currently being evaluated in Phase 1a clinical trials.
3 min read · 05 February 2015
A subsidiary of Ormat Technologies Inc (NYSE: ORA) has agreed to contribute geothermal and recovered energy generation power plants to a new joint venture with Canadian private equity and infrastructure investor Northleaf Capital Partners. Under the terms of the agreement, Northleaf will pay US$175 million to acquire a 40 percent equity interest in the joint venture, which has an implied enterprise value of US$438 million. Ormat will continue to assume day-to-day management of the joint venture's assets, with all future development being the responsibility of the partners. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015.
7 min read · 05 February 2015
Anges Québec Capital Fund, a fund established in 2012 to invest alongside members of Anges Québec, has been recapitalized. New capital commitments to the fund, totaling $85 million, include $65 million from Anges Québec partners, including the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Investissement Québec and the Québec government. To date, the fund and Anges Québec, a network of 165 private investors, have invested in 44 early-stage innovative companies in Québec. François Gilbert, president and CEO of Anges Québec, said the new money will facilitate investments in more than 55 companies.
3 min read · 03 February 2015
Inocucor Technologies Inc, a developer of sustainable biological products, has secured undisclosed funding. The round was led by Canadian venture capital firm Cycle Capital Management, which first invested in the company in 2013, and was joined by Desjardins Innovatech. Inocucor said the deal will help speed the commercialization of its technology platform, which provides solutions to improve seed germination and increase crop yields. The company also said that it is preparing for a major equity financing to fuel growth. Based in Montréal, Inocucor was founded in 2007 by scientists Dr. Margaret Bywater–Ekegärd and Ananda Lynn Fitzsimmons.
4 min read · 03 February 2015
Velvet Energy Ltd has obtained an incremental $100 million equity line from its existing U.S. private equity investors Warburg Pincus, Trilantic Capital Partners and ZAM Ventures. The Calgary-based company, which is focused on crude oil and natural gas exploration and production in Alberta, said the investment follows an initial equity line totaling $336 million that has been fully deployed. The new funding will support Velvet Energy's pursuit of acquisitions and additional growth and corporate development opportunities, the company said. Founded in 2011, it is led by president and CEO Ken Woolner.
5 min read · 29 January 2015
Sheldon Inwentash, chairman and CEO of Canadian investment and merchant banking firm Pinetree Capital, will resign his position at the firm, as well as his seat on the board of directors. The resignation is a result of an agreement with certain debenture holders concerning the firm's default of a debt covenant. Richard Patricio, the firm's vice president of corporate and legal affairs, will assume the responsibilities of CEO in the interim. Based in Toronto, Pinetree invests in energy, precious metals and technology companies.
6 min read · 28 January 2015
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil has announced that a group of private investors have plans to launch a new venture capital fund based in Nova Scotia. The fund, which will be capitalized at $50 million, is being initiated by Victor Chu, chairman of First Eastern Investment Group, a private equity and venture capital firm with headquarters in Hong Kong. Premier McNeil said a key focus of the fund will be to create new opportunities for Nova Scotia small businesses in China. The announcement follows last November's launch of a new $15 million venture capital fund in Newfoundland and Labrador.
2 min read · 27 January 2015
Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) has named André Bourbonnais, the private equity chief at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, as its new president and CEO, effective March 30, 2015.
2 min read · 27 January 2015
Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) has tapped André Bourbonnais as its new president and CEO, effective on March 30, 2015. Bourbonnais takes on the job after more than two decades of experience in high-profile market roles, most recently as senior managing director and global head of private investments at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), a position he has occupied since 2010.
2 min read · 27 January 2015
