Kirk Falconer
Foodtastic Inc has acquired Chocolato, a Québec City-based chain of chocolate and ice cream bars, for an undisclosed amount. The deal, done in partnership with Guyaume Arsenault, who founded Chocolato in 2015, will support the company's expansion in Canada and the United States. Based in Montréal, Foodtastic is a franchisor of restaurant concepts. It currently has more that 75 restaurants and $135 million in system sales. Last year, Foodtastic raised a $47 million investment from Restaurant Royalty Partners, a joint venture of Oaktree Capital Management and JHR Capital.
Canadian specialty finance firm Crown Capital Partners has provided $17 million of additional debt financing to two portfolio companies. Crown supplied a $10 million bridge facility to Rokstad Holdings Corp, a Coquitlam, British Columbia-based provider of power line construction and maintenance services. The facility adds to a $25 million loan completed in April. Crown also increased a loan facility by $7 million for DATA Communications Management Corp (DCM), a Brampton, Ontario-based business communication solutions provider. DCM originally secured a $12 million loan last year.
Pretium Packaging LLC has acquired Starplex Scientific Inc, a Toronto-based maker of plastic containers and closures for the food, specialty beverage, household and industrial, sports nutrition, healthcare and beauty care industries. Terms weren't released for the deal, which will see Starplex retain its existing brand. The seller was Apotex Corp, a Canadian pharmaceutical company. Pretium, a Chesterfield, Missouri-based maker of rigid plastic containers and closures, said the acquisition will support its growth objectives in the medical and consumer healthcare sectors. Starplex is Pretium's seventh add-on deal since the company was acquired in 2014 by U.S. mid-market private equity firm Genstar Capital.
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has agreed to invest US$500 million ($664 million) in Laboratorios Sanfer SA, a Mexico City-based pharmaceutical company. The deal, expected to close later this year, will give CDPQ a minority interest. It will support the company's expansion, both organically and through acquisitions, in Mexico and Latin America. U.S. private equity firm General Atlantic (GA), which invested in Sanfer in 2014, will retain a minority stake. With a presence in over 25 Latin American countries, Sanfer manufactures human and animal health products across more than 10 therapeutic fields.
Heico Co has acquired a majority stake in Shred-Tech Corp, a Cambridge, Ontario-based designer and maker of mobile and stationary shredding equipment for the document destruction and recycling industries. No financial terms were released for the deal, which saw Heico partner with Rob Glass, Shred-Tech’s president and CEO. The transaction facilitated the exit of some founding shareholders. Established in 1987, Shred-Tech has installed more than 6,000 shredding and recycling systems worldwide. Heico, a U.S. investor in mid-market industrial companies, said it will support Shred-Tech's continued growth and development of its product line.
Quber Technologies, a Moncton-based mobile savings app, has raised $450,000 in financing. New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF) invested $200,000 in the round. The balance was accounted for by angel investors and the startup's founders. Launched in 2016 and led by CEO Jennifer Leger, Quber provides a secure smartphone app that helps Canadian consumers manage their spending and accumulate savings for personalized financial goals. The deal's proceeds will support the expansion of Quber's users, revenue and team members.
Toronto-based medical imaging company MolecuLight has secured a nearly $10 million (US$7.5 million) loan from Oxford Finance LLC, a U.S. healthcare and life sciences finance firm. The proceeds will support the commercial growth of MolecuLight i:X, a real-time, handheld fluorescence imaging solution for the global wound care market. The device helps clinicians diagnose and treat chronic wounds. Founded in 2013 by CSO Ralph DaCosta, and led by CEO Anil Amlani, MolecuLight is backed by Canadian healthcare technology venture capital firm iGan Partners and other investors. Last week, MolecuLight announced the sale of its oncology business to Photonamic GmbH & Co KG.
Catalyst Capital Group said it will acquire a 10.05 percent interest in Canadian department store operator Hudson's Bay Co (TSX: HBC) for about $187 million. The Canadian private equity firm said it will complete the purchase of common shares within three business days. Catalyst first offered to buy shares of Hudson's Bay in July. It amended the offer earlier this month, increasing the transaction's value to as much as $200 million from $150 million. The purchase, which will add to Catalyst's existing holdings, is intended to block the proposed $1.74 billion take-private acquisition of Hudson's Bay, announced in June.
Slate Asset Management LP, a Toronto-based real estate-focused alternative investment platform, has secured a non-voting minority equity investment from Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Terms weren't disclosed. Goldman Sachs invested through its Petershill unit, which buys minority stakes in managers of private equity and other alternative asset funds. Slate Founding Partners Blair Welch and Brady Welch made a long-term commitment to the business as part of the deal. Slate sponsors private and public equity funds that invest in real estate and real asset opportunities in North America and Europe. It has completed more than $11 billion of transactions and oversees $6.2 billion in assets.
The private equity group of Brookfield Asset Management has so far raised nearly US$8 billion ($10.6 billion) for its fifth flagship fund. Brookfield Capital Partners V, which held a US$6.5 billion first close last year, is expected to wrap up fundraising by the end of Q3 2019. Current commitments to the fund are effectively double that of its predecessor, which secured US$4 billion in 2016. BCP V was intended to be much bigger than prior PE offerings, PE Hub Canada reported last year. The goal is to help the PE group tap into a “global opportunity set that gets larger every year,” Managing Partner and CEO Cyrus Madon said in an interview.