Private Equity
Canadian specialty finance firm Crown Capital Partners has added three senior professionals to its team. They include Tim Oldfield, formerly a partner at Grant Thornton LLP, who will serve as senior vice president and CIO. Additionally, Brian Mellum, co-founder and COO at Toscana Capital Corp, becomes senior vice president, energy. Finally, David Turnbull, formerly a vice president and head of private company advisory at Manulife Capital Markets, will serve as senior vice president, business development. Calgary-based Crown Capital, which went public in July, held an initial $100 million close for its fourth special situations debt fund in September.
3 min read · 05 November 2015
Canadian mining company Wellgreen Platinum Ltd (TSX: WG) has agreed to a financing package that will provide it with gross proceeds of about $11.4 million. The investors are U.S. mining-focused private equity firm Resource Capital Funds (RCF) and Alverstoke Group. The deal comprises equity and the sale by the company of a one percent net smelter returns royalty on future production from its Wellgreen property. Based in Vancouver, Wellgreen owns 100 percent of a platinum group metals and nickel project located in the Yukon. With the agreement, it has initiated the second phase of its 2015 exploration drilling program.
6 min read · 05 November 2015
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) announced that it has appointed David Scudellari as its senior vice president and head of principal debt and credit investments. Scudellari, who previously served as a managing director at Barclays Capital, will lead PSP’s new private debt affiliate, which is located in New York. André Bourbonnais, who earlier this year left Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to become PSP’s chief executive, said the initiative is “the first step in making PSP Investments a truly global pension investment manager with a local presence in select international markets.”
4 min read · 05 November 2015
Toronto-based Imperus Technologies Corp (TSX-V: LAB) has entered into an agreement to secure US$28 million from Third Eye Capital Corp. The funding, which comes in the form of a senior secured term loan facility, will help fund the company’s acquisition of Akamon Entertainment Millennium SL, a developer and publisher of social games. The deal was announced in September. Third Eye Capital is a Canadian provider of private secured loans for under-appreciated mid-market companies.
6 min read · 04 November 2015
Bravo Oilfield Safety Services LP, a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm Yellow Point Equity Partners, recently announced its combination with Target Safety Services Ltd. No financial terms were released. The new entity, Bravo Target Safety LP, provides a one-stop shop for safety services and related products in the Western Canadian industrial and oilfield safety sector, the company said. Target was represented in the deal by Stormont Energy Advisors. Yellow Point, which acquired Bravo last year, closed its fourth fund, Yellow Point Equity Partners IV LP, in September.
2 min read · 04 November 2015
Canadian private equity firm CAI Capital Management has held the first close of Firethorn Capital Partners LP, the first in a series of CAI funds that will serve accredited individual investors, family offices, and smaller institutional investors in North America. The amount raised by the new fund was not released. Firethorn, which will be led by CAI Managing Partner Tracey McVicar, has already completed its inaugural deal, taking an undisclosed majority interest in White House Design Co Inc, a Canadian designer, manufacturer and wholesaler of women’s clothing. The interest was sold to Firethorn by Jan Stimpson, White House’s founder. John Evans will be the company’s new president and CEO.
4 min read · 04 November 2015
Cerberus Capital Management has issued a statement defending the lawsuit filed against the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce last week. Cerberus said it “provided CIBC the lifeline that it needed” during the financial crisis in 2008, but that CIBC “refused” to observe its contractual obligations. Cerberus added that it was “forced” into legal action following efforts to resolve the issue with CIBC. The bank sought the financial assistance from Cerberus to reduce its exposure to the U.S. residential real estate market. It said it had satisfied all its obligations by making payments totaling more than US$1.24 billion, according to a Reuters report.
3 min read · 04 November 2015
The Trigo Group has joined forces with The PIC Group, a Canadian provider of quality solutions to automotive and manufacturing industries in North America. No financial terms were disclosed. France’s Trigo said the merger of the companies will create the “largest and most comprehensive breadth of quality services being offered globally in the market today.” Trigo, which provides quality inspection, engineering and management services to manufacturers, is majority owned by European private equity firm IK Investment Partners. Oshawa, Ontario-based PIC is Trigo’s third add-on acquisition since IK bought the business in August 2011.
4 min read · 04 November 2015
Kahala Brands has bought Maui Wowi Hawaiian, a smoothie and coffee franchise business based in Denver, Colorado. No financial terms were disclosed. Kahala, a quick-service restaurant franchising platform, said the acquisition increases its list of smoothie concepts to four widely recognized brands and to 17 brands in the entire portfolio. It plans to consolidate operations and run franchising activity for the Maui Wowi brand from its headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona. Kahala is a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm Serruya Private Equity, which invests on behalf of the Serruya family. It is also backed by the Delavaco Group.
3 min read · 04 November 2015
SterlingBackcheck announced that it has acquired EmployeeScreenIQ, a provider of employment background checks and substance abuse screening services based in Cleveland, Ohio. No financial terms were released. New York's SterlingBackcheck, which offers services that are complementary to EmployeeScreenIQ, was itself acquired in June. The joint buyers were Canadian pension fund manager the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Goldman Sachs.
3 min read · 03 November 2015
