Private Equity
Venus Concept, a developer and manufacturer of devices for the medical aesthetic market, has secured $10 million in financing. The company's backer is U.S. venture capital firm Longitude Capital, which is focused on investing in medical technology and drug development companies. Funding proceeds will allow Venus Concept to further its R&D investments, strengthen sales operations in growing markets and implement its subscription-based business model worldwide. Led by a team of executives and researchers in the medical aesthetics industry, the Toronto-based company was founded in 2009.
2 min read · 23 May 2014
Dejero has received $4.5 million in growth funding from Canadian venture capital firm BEST Funds. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, Dejero is a wireless transmission company. Update: Proceeds of the investment will allow the business to extend its sales growth while continuing to develop cutting-edge technologies for the broadcasting industry. The Toronto-based BEST funds earlier this year invested in enterprise solutions provider PitchPoint Solutions Inc and wireless optimization provider XipLink Inc.
2 min read · 22 May 2014
Brookfield Asset Management has acquired Thayer Lodging Group Inc, a U.S. private equity firm that invests in hotel real estate. No financial terms were disclosed for the transaction. Update: Based in Annapolis, Maryland, Thayer Lodging has since its founding in 1991 completed 43 hotel investments with a total acquisition cost of approximately US$2.5 billion. The firm will continue to operate Thayer's investment management, asset management, and property management businesses as a subsidiary of Brookfield.
3 min read · 21 May 2014
Canadian private markets investor Northleaf Capital Partners has wrapped up a new fund earmarked for opportunities in the global private equity secondary market, peHUB Canada has learned. Northleaf Secondary Partners, launched in 2013, has raised a total of US$255 million. That’s 27% above the US$200 million target set for it. Northleaf managing director Jeff Pentland said he believes the fund exceeded expectations because of the powerful forces that are currently driving secondary buying and selling worldwide, as well as the firm’s 11-year track record of investing in the space.
4 min read · 20 May 2014
Canadian private equity firm Novacap has closed its fourth technology, media and telecommunications fund, Novacap TMT IV LP, raising $375 million. The fund surpassed its target of $350 million, and is more than twice the size of the $180 million Fund III, closed in 2007. Fund IV was backed by a range of institutional investors, including Teralys Capital, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Investissement Québec, Export Development Canada, Business Development Bank of Canada and several Canadian and Québec pension funds. Last December, peHUB Canada interviewed Novacap president and managing partner Pascal Tremblay about the fund and technology buyout opportunities in North America. Founded in 1981, Novacap is based in Longueuil, Québec.
3 min read · 14 May 2014
Spring is here, along with a welcome thaw to end a brutal winter. That is perhaps an apt metaphor for private equity fundraising, which also appears to be warming up. The final close of Onex Partners IV LP, the fourth partnership of Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp, provides a timely example. Fund IV has been wrapped up with US$5.15 billion in total capital committed. According to Onex, it is the largest fundraise in its history.
2 min read · 13 May 2014
DSW Inc (NYSE: DSW) has completed its previously announced purchase of a 49.2% interest in Canadian footwear and accessories retailer Town Shoes Ltd. The final acquisition price was $75.5 million. DSW bought the stake from Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo) and other minority investors. AIMCo and Canadian private equity firm Callisto Capital together acquired a majority position in the Toronto-based Town Shoes in 2012. DSW said that its initial stake provides 50% voting control and board representation equal to the primary remaining shareholder, Callisto. With headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, DSW is a branded footwear and accessories retail company.
4 min read · 12 May 2014
AudienceView has raised a new round of equity financing. The round, the size of which was not disclosed, was led by Canadian venture capital firm Five Corners Capital, which in 2013 assumed oversight of fund investments formerly managed by Ventures West Capital. Five Corners was joined by new and existing investors. Funding will be used to grow AudienceView's self-serve e-commerce platform, through which organizations and individuals can manage their own branded online store to drive ticketing, fundraising and related e-commerce offerings. Founded in 2002, the Toronto-based company has been venture-backed since 2005. Ventures West 8 LP is AudienceView's largest shareholder.
3 min read · 09 May 2014
India's Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd has completed its sale of business process outsourcing unit Minacs to an investor group led by private equity firms CX Partners and Capital Square Partners. Post this deal, which was valued at US$260 million, Minacs will be majority-owned by CX Partners. The company has a significant market presence in Canada, and an office in Toronto. Minacs was formerly a portfolio investment of Canadian private equity firm ReichmannHauer Capital Partners. The firm led the acquisition of Minacs, a TSX listed company, in 2006 and subsequently invested in TransWorks Information Services Ltd, an Indian BPO company that merged with Minacs.
4 min read · 09 May 2014
Georgian Partners has taken time away from fundraising to lend support to a Canadian ed-tech startup it feels has especially strong growth prospects. The Toronto-based VC firm has led the $10 million Series B financing of Top Hat, a mobile and web-based provider of classroom engagement tools. It was joined in the round by existing investors. The deal comes only a few weeks after Georgian Partners wrapped up the initial close of its second applied analytics fund, raising $100 million.
3 min read · 06 May 2014
