Private Equity
Vancouver-based gold exploration company Liberty Gold Corp has raised about $10.5 million in proceeds from a bought deal private placement. Resource Capital Funds (RCF) invested in the transaction, which will give the U.S. mining private equity firm 8.4 percent of Liberty's issued and outstanding common shares, and up to 12.1 percent if related warrants are exercised. Liberty, an affiliate of Oxygen Capital Corp, said the proceeds will be used for exploration and drilling programs, to finalize a resource estimate for the company's flagship Goldstrike project in Utah, and other priorities.
3 min read · 26 January 2018
Vancouver-based TIMIA Capital Corp, which provides financing to technology companies in exchange for a royalty on revenue, has named Darren Seed as vice president of capital markets and communications. In the new role, Seed will build and maintain relationships with the investment community while leading capital markets and investor relations efforts. A member of Canadian Investor Relations Institute since 2005, Seed was a member of CIRI’s national board of directors until 2017. He has held investor relations and communications roles for several public companies.
2 min read · 26 January 2018
Canada's M&A market was highly active in 2017 in volume, but with smaller values. Strategic buyers drove much of the action, while private equity firms found sell-side opportunities. The mid-market remained the focal point, while both inbound and outbound deal-making showed strength. And all investors exhibited prudence in what continues to be a frothy market. Torys LLP's Sophia Tolias, Michael Akkawi and John Emanoilidis think there's reason to expect sustained momentum in Canadian M&A in 2018. They tell us why in this PE Hub Canada feature article.
6 min read · 25 January 2018
Celestica Inc (TSX, NYSE: CLS) has agreed to acquire Atrenne Integrated Solutions Inc, a New Hope, Minnesota-based designer and maker of ruggedized electromechanical solutions primarily for military and commercial aerospace applications. Celestica will buy the company for about $172 million (US$139 million) in cash. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. Celestica, a Toronto-based provider of electronics manufacturing services, said the acquisition will broaden and diversify its capabilities in the aerospace and defense markets. Celestica has been a portfolio investment of Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp since 1996.
3 min read · 25 January 2018
OMERS Infrastructure recruited Blackstone Group’s Michael Ryder as a senior managing director and head of its Americas team, a person familiar with the matter told PE Hub Canada. Ryder joins OMERS Infrastructure, an investment arm of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, after more than three years as a Blackstone senior managing director. He led the midstream energy and oilfield-services strategy of Blackstone Energy Partners. Before then, Ryder was for seven years a managing director at Morgan Stanley Private Equity. OMERS Infrastructure invests in large-scale infrastructure businesses in energy, social infrastructure and transportation, primarily in North America, Europe and Australia. Ryder will oversee the Americas infrastructure operation from OMERS' New York office.
2 min read · 25 January 2018
The technology group of Canadian private equity firm Novacap has agreed to buy Horizon Telcom Inc, a Chillicothe, Ohio-based provider of fibre-optic bandwidth infrastructure services. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which will see Novacap acquire the company from its more than 280 shareholders. Horizon will with the acquisition and the finalization of new fibre builds operate 550,000 strand miles of fibre and 4,500 route miles of fibre in six states. Novacap's Ted Mocarski said the deal, expected to close in Q2 2018, marks a stepping-stone for his firm's goal of creating a multi-state fibre-optic provider in the Midwestern United States.
4 min read · 25 January 2018
Benevity Inc, a Calgary-based provider of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee engagement software, has raised a strategic investment from U.S. growth equity firm General Atlantic. No financial terms were released for the deal, which will see General Atlantic Managing Director Alex Crisses join the board. Founded in 2008 by CEO Bryan de Lottinville, Benevity today has a client base of more than 300 global brands. Its growth strategy is focused on product innovation, expanding its charitable network, and scaling its operations. Benevity is also backed by JMI Equity, which led the company's $38 million Series A financing in 2015.
3 min read · 24 January 2018
Canada’s second-biggest marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis Inc has agreed to buy smaller rival CanniMed Therapeutics Inc for $1.1 billion creating the world’s largest weed producer by market value, Reuters reported. The agreement follows months of tensions between the companies as Aurora made a hostile bid of $24 per share for CanniMed, which itself was engaged in a friendly deal to buy Newstrike Resources Ltd. The agreement tops a deal-making frenzy among cannabis companies as they jostle for prime position ahead of Canada’s legalization of recreational use of marijuana by mid-2018, making it only the second country in the world to do so. Both Aurora and CanniMed have in recent years secured financing from Canadian and U.S. private equity and venture capital investors.
2 min read · 24 January 2018
Altitude Sports, a Montréal-based web retailer specializing in urban and outdoor high-end clothing, has secured an investment from the growth equity group of BDC Capital. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which gave BDC a minority stake. Founded in 1984, Altitude is headed by Co-CEOs Maxime Dubois and Alexandre Guimond, who acquired the business in 2011. Today, it offers a selection of more than 340 brands, sold primarily through an online store, Altitude-sports.com. BDC, which has funded Altitude since 2011, will in the latest deal support the company's continued growth. BDC last year allocated $250 million to growth equity investing.
3 min read · 24 January 2018
Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp has wrapped up its acquisition of SMG Holdings Inc, a West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based manager of convention centres, stadiums, arenas, theatres, performing arts centres and other venues. No financial terms were disclosed for the previously announced deal; however, Reuters reported Onex paid about US$1 billion and contributed about US$440 million in equity. The seller was Ares Capital Corp, which acquired SMG in 2017 from American Capital. Last November, Onex closed its fifth flagship fund, Onex Partners V, at US$7.15 billion.
2 min read · 23 January 2018
