Private Equity
A consortium led by Canadian private equity firm Champlain Financial Corp has acquired La Canadienne, a Montréal-based maker, distributor and retailer of women's winter footwear. No financial terms were disclosed. The consortium includes La Canadienne's founders, among them Penny Shuster. Fashion industry professionals Nicholas Martire and Nicolas Topiol have joined the company respectively as CEO and chairman. Established in 1961, La Canadienne sells its boots and shoes, as well as outerwear and accessories, online and in stores across North America. Champlain Partner Scott Jackson said his firm will support La Canadienne's expansion into new markets.
3 min read · 31 July 2019
Calgary-based 3D robotics supply chain company Attabotics has raised nearly $33 million (US$25 million) in a Series B financing. The round's backers included new investors Coatue Management, Comcast Ventures and Honeywell Ventures, as well as returning investors Forerunner Ventures and Werklund Growth Fund. Founded in 2015, Attabotics provides a robotic warehousing and fulfillment system that helps retailers reduce space requirements and accelerate shipping processes to meet demand. Led by CEO and CTO Scott Gravelle, Attabotics will use the funds raised for continued growth, including new hires, scaling manufacturing operations and developing new technologies.
3 min read · 30 July 2019
BMO's Technology and Innovation Banking group has provided US$37 million of debt financing to Kony, an Austin, Texas-based digital and mobile application development company. The investment includes US$10 million of new financing. The proceeds will be used by Kony to accelerate the growth of Kony DBX, a digital banking solutions platform, and Kony Quantum, a low-code solutions platform. Kony secured about US$112 million prior to the BMO deal, according to Refinitiv. That includes 2014's US$50 million round led by SoftBank Capital and Insight Venture Partners, and joined by Georgian Partners and others.
4 min read · 30 July 2019
CIBC Innovation Banking has provided $4.6 million (US$3.5 million) of debt financing to Invixium, a Toronto-based maker of biometric solutions for access control and workforce digitalization. The company will use the proceeds to support its growth plans. Founded in 2012 by CEO Shiraz Kapadia, Invixium develops biometric security solutions utilizing face, finger vein and fingerprint recognition. It serves a range of enterprises and industries for indoor and outdoor deployment in rugged environments. Earlier this year, Invixium raised a Series B financing led by Connecticut Innovations and joined by existing investors McRock Capital and BDC Capital. CIBC Innovation Banking is the technology lending arm of CIBC.
3 min read · 30 July 2019
During the last few years, general partner-led secondary transactions have evolved and are no longer just associated with GPs trying to dispose of lingering assets that have become hard to sell. Increasingly, GP-led secondaries are used to create for both PE fund sponsors and their LPs liquidity solutions with more attractive valuations than regular dispositions of funds’ assets. In a PE Hub Canada feature article, Torys LLP Partners Venera Ziegler, Scott Semer and Andrew Beck and Senior Associate Batya Nadler look at key issues associated with GP-led secondary transactions as well as related guidelines released by the Institutional Limited Partners Association for sponsors and LPs.
9 min read · 30 July 2019
Swedish private equity firm EQT and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have agreed to acquire a majority stake in Waystar, a Louisville, Kentucky-based provider of revenue-cycle technology. The deal, expected to close later this year, values Waystar at US$2.7 billion. The seller is Bain Capital Private Equity, which will retain a minority stake in the company. Formed through a merger transaction in 2017, Waystar provides software to manage revenue for more than 450,000 healthcare providers, 750 health systems and hospitals, and 5,000 payers and health plans.
6 min read · 29 July 2019
MMGY Global has acquired NEXTFactor Enterprises Inc, a Vancouver-based strategic planning and consulting business focused on the travel and tourism industry. No financial terms were disclosed. NEXTFactor has been renamed MMGY NextFactor. President Paul Ouimet, who founded NEXTFactor in 2015, and his team will remain with the company. MMGY Global, a Kansas City, Missouri-based marketing services provider, said the deal facilitates its entry into the Canadian market. MMGY Global has been backed since 2016 by U.S. mid-market private equity firm Peninsula Capital Partners.
3 min read · 29 July 2019
Eideticom, a Calgary-based provider of computational storage solutions, has raised an undisclosed seed-stage financing. The investors were Inovia Capital, a Canadian growth equity and venture capital firm, and Molex Ventures, an investment arm of U.S. electronics solutions provider Molex Electronic Technologies LLC. Founded in 2016 and led by CEO Roger Bertschmann, Eideticom has developed NVMe computational storage technology to help cloud and enterprise data centre customers improve scalability and performance as well as reduce costs and energy consumption. The company will use the funds raised to expand its team and accelerate the deployment of end solutions.
4 min read · 29 July 2019
Friendly Stranger Holdings Corp, a Toronto-based supplier of cannabis products and accessories, has raised $5 million in follow-on financing. The deal was backed by Canadian cannabis producers 48North Cannabis Corp and VIVO Cannabis Inc. Canadian cannabis investment firm Green Acre Capital, which in 2018 agreed to invest $10 million in the company, provided an additional $2.5 million. The proceeds will be used to support Friendly Stranger's growth, including opening more cannabis culture accessory stores and launching adult-use retail locations across Canada. Established in 1994 by Robin Ellins and Joy Jacobsen, Friendly Stranger currently operates 10 retail locations in Ontario.
5 min read · 29 July 2019
Vistara Capital Partners held the second close of its third technology debt fund, bringing the total raised to more than $100 million (US$75 million). Vistara Technology Growth Fund III, launched last October with a target of $130 million, is expected to reach its goal later this year, Managing Partner Randy Garg and Partner Noah Shipman told PE Hub Canada. The second close was anchored by two new institutions: the investment program of federal agency Export Development Canada and Nicola Wealth, a Canadian wealth management firm. Fund III will maintain Vistara’s strategy of providing flexible debt and equity financing for North American mid- to late-stage companies looking to fuel growth without diluting ownership.
3 min read · 29 July 2019
