Private Equity
OMsignal Inc has secured $10 million in a Series A financing round led by U.S. venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners. Bessemer was joined in the deal by existing investors, including Real Ventures, Mistral Venture Partners, Golden Venture Partners, Techstars' managing partner David Cohen, Flextronics and Primera Capital. Founded in 2011, the Montréal-based OMsignal is a provider of smart clothing technology and the maker of Biometric Smartwear, clothing that includes sensors to track fitness, health and performance. The company will use the new funds to achieve greater scale and take wearable technology to a wider consumer base.
3 min read · 24 June 2014
Tasktop Technologies, developer of an integration technology designed to improve software productivity, has raised $11 million in a Series A financing round. The deal was led by U.S. venture capital firm Austin Ventures and joined by Canadian firm Yaletown Venture Partners, which helped seed the company in 2013. Tasktop has found a warm reception in the market because the making and management of software is these days “core to modern innovation,” said Mike Satterfield, partner at Yaletown.
3 min read · 24 June 2014
Canadian mid-market private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners has agreed to purchase the retail home medical operations of Centric Health Corp for $50 million. The deal is expected to close in August. Doing business under the brand names MEDIchair and Motion Specialties, the operations to be acquired focus on the sale of home accessibility equipment, mobility devices and home medical supplies through a network of 47 franchised and 30 corporate stores. Birch Hill partner Thecla Sweeney said the firm will help position MEDIchair and Motion "to thrive in a fast growing industry." Based in Toronto, Birch Hill has $2 billion in capital under management.
5 min read · 23 June 2014
Canadian private equity firm Tricor Pacific Capital has closed its fifth partnership, Tricor Pacific Capital Partners Fund V, raising capital commitments totaling $345 million. Fund V will invest in North American lower mid-market deal opportunities, and such industries as specialty manufacturing, business services and value-added distribution. Founded in 1996, Tricor is based in Vancouver and has an office in Chicago. Since inception, it has led the acquisition of 68 companies with more than $1 billion in investor capital. In February, the firm completed several portfolio exits, including the sale of Golden Boy Foods Ltd, a private label peanut butter maker, to Post Holdings Inc for $320 million.
1 min read · 19 June 2014
Canadian private equity firm Sprott Resource Corp has invested $19.5 million in InPlay Oil Corp, a private exploration and development company with headquarters in Calgary. Sprott is investing alongside InPlay Oil's management and directors, as well as its existing investors, which include JOG Capital, a Calgary-based private equity firm that invests in the upstream oil and gas industry. Earlier in June, Sprott-backed Long Run Exploration Ltd (TSX: LRE) agreed to acquire another JOG Capital portfolio company, Crocotta Energy Inc (TSX: CTA), for $357 million. That acquisition is expected to close in August.
5 min read · 16 June 2014
Amaya Gaming Group Inc (TSX: AYA) has agreed to buy the parent of Rational Group Ltd for US$4.9 billion. Based on the Isle of Man, Rational Group is the owner and operator of online poker platforms PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. The Montréal-based Amaya said the deal will make it the world's largest publicly traded online gaming provider. The acquisition will be funded through cash, debt and private placements. GSO Capital Partners, the credit division of U.S. private equity firm The Blackstone Group, will subscribe for US$600 million in convertible preferred shares, and purchase US$55 million of common shares in the business upon the deal's closing, which is expected before Sept. 30.
10 min read · 16 June 2014
Visier Inc, a specialist in workforce analytics and planning, has obtained $25.5 million in a Series C financing round. The round was led by U.S. venture capital firm Adams Street Partners, with the participation of Foundation Capital and Summit Partners, which accounted for Visier's Series A and B rounds. To date, the Vancouver-based company has raised $49.5 million. Visier said the new funds will be used to broaden adoption of its applied big data technologies within the human resources market, and penetrate new growth areas. Founded in 2010, the company has over the past year released new product offerings, doubled its customer count, and opened a new office in San Jose, California.
5 min read · 10 June 2014
The inaugural BDC Innovation Award was recently given to Montréal’s Mirametrix, a three-year old company that specializes in eye tracking solutions. Mirametrix was singled out for the honour because of its cutting-edge technology, which is changing the way human beings interact with machines. To a significant extent, Mirametrix’s achievement is equally that of its Canadian venture capital backer, the no-less-innovative TandemLaunch.
4 min read · 02 June 2014
Bit Stew Systems Inc has received a $3.5 million credit facility from U.S. technology investor Silicon Valley Bank. Founded in 2005, the Vancouver-based Bit Stew is a provider of integrated, real-time network operations solutions for the utility sector. Update: The company said the new partnership with Silicon Valley Bank builds on the Series A funding that was provided last December by Canadian venture capital firm Yaletown Venture Partners and Cisco Systems Inc. The new credit facility will enable Bit Stew to invest in its go-to-market strategy.
3 min read · 27 May 2014
The private equity group of Brookfield Asset Management had a memorable 2013. Its accomplishments included portfolio exits that added materially to the larger Brookfield’s financial results last year – the strongest in its history. Two of these deals were recently in the news. A realized exit, the sale of Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging, won Brookfield the Canadian PE industry’s most prestigious award. A planned exit, the sale of Ainsworth Lumber, was instead nixed after prolonged efforts to comply with regulatory requirements.
4 min read · 26 May 2014
