Private Equity
Prevtec Microbia Inc, a Montréal-based biotechnology company focused on the prevention of diseases in food animals, has agreed to be acquired by Elanco Animal Health Inc (NYSE: ELAN). Elanco, a Greenfield, Indiana-based animal health company, agreed to pay $78.5 million in cash. The deal also includes a payment of up to $21.5 million to former shareholders in Q1 2022 if certain sales milestones are met. Founded in 2003, Prevtec is the maker of the Coliprotec line of vaccine products designed to protect pigs against post-weaning diarrhea and associated clinical signs caused by E. coli. Prevtec has been backed in financings by Desjardins-Innovatech, Echo Capital, Investissement Québec, Telesystem, Vet Venture Capital and other investors.
4 min read · 01 August 2019
Clearbanc, a Toronto-based provider of marketing capital for e-commerce brands, has raised about $395 million (US$300 million) in additional financing. The equity portion, reportedly about $66 million (US$50 million), was led by U.S. venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners. It was joined by Inovia Capital and Emergence Capital, both of which invested in last year's combined $160 million (US$120 million) financing. The balance of the new round, led by Arcadia Funds and Upper90, will capitalize a fund intended to back Clearbanc's e-commerce clients. Led by co-founders and CEOs Andrew D’Souza and Michele Romanow, Clearbanc is the creator of the 20-Min Term Sheet, which offers a non-dilutive alternative to traditional funding sources.
5 min read · 31 July 2019
Grenco Science, a Los Angeles-based cannabis vaporizer brand, has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A financing. Investors in the round included Serruya Private Equity, the investment arm of Canada's Serruya family, and Stable Road Capital. Launched in 2012, Grenco Science uses technology to develop a line of portable cannabis vaporizers, including the original G Pen. The financing's proceeds will support expansion of the company's product range and global growth.
3 min read · 31 July 2019
U.K. healthcare private equity firm GHO Capital Partners has sold Caprion Biosciences, a Montréal-based provider of immunology and proteomics services to the biopharmaceutical industry. No financial terms were disclosed. The buyer was Arsenal Capital Partners, a U.S. healthcare and specialty industrials private equity firm. In a separate release, Arsenal said it will invest in Caprion's merger with Antwerp, Belgium-based HistoGeneX, creating a single provider of research services for the development of immunology- and oncology-focused drugs. HistoGeneX was formerly backed by Waterland Private Equity Investments. Founded in 2000, Caprion was acquired and recapitalized in 2016 by GHO.
4 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
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
