Kirk Falconer
The private equity and finance group of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management Inc. has wrapped up a new partnership ear-marked for mid-market turnarounds and other special situations, peHUB Canada has learned. Brookfield wrapped up Brookfield Capital Partners III LP at US$1 billion a few months ago, according to Joe Freedman, one of the group’s senior managing […]
Calgary-based Montana Exploration Corp., a junior oil and gas company, has closed a previously-announced strategic financing with an affiliate of McIntryre Partners totaling C$3.5 million. Proceeds of the investment will be used to drill wells targeting oil production and conduct seismic and other oilfield operations. McIntyre is a British private investment firm focused on natural resources and infrastructure sectors.
Canadian pension fund manager the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has invested around C$15 million of equity in Colabor Group Inc., a meat processor and distributor based in Boucherville,Québec. The investment was made by the Caisse in support of Colabor's expansion plans, which include the company's acquisition of all of the assets of T. Lauzon Ltd., a meat, poultry, fish, deli and grocery product wholesaler based in Montréal. The acquisition was priced at approximately C$15 million.
Enghouse Systems Ltd., a publicly-traded Canadian software and services company, has agreed to acquire Locus AS, a Norwegian developer and provider of integration software and systems of efficient management of fleets of vehicles/mobile users. The transaction, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2013, is priced at approximately C$14 million. Locus is a portfolio company of European private equity firm CapMan Group. CapMan has held a majority interest in the company since 2004.
US private equity firm Kohlberg & Co. has completed its previously-announced secondary sale of shares in Bauer Performance Sports Ltd., a Canadian manufacturer of hockey and lacrosse equipment and apparel. Gross proceeds from the sale totaled C$40 million, leaving Kohlberg with the equivalent of 31% of the company's issued and outstanding common shares. Kohlberg and Roustan Capital acquired Bauer in a corporate carve-out deal in 2008. In 2011, Bauer raised C$75 million in an initial public offering.
Canada is making a name for itself in private equity. With a stable economy facilitating steady deal-making in the home market and Canadian funds increasingly active abroad, the prognosis for 2013 is a positive one. That’s one of the findings of a new report, The Canadian Private Equity Market: 2012 in Review by law firm Torys LLP.
DRI Capital, a Canadian private equity firm specializing in monetizing royalties it purchases from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and others, completed over C$600 million in deals in 2012. Among the firm's disclosed transactions was the September 2012 acquisition of BENLYSTA royalty rights from Weston, Mass.-based Biogen Idec Ltd. DRI Capital, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2013, raised its last partnership, Drug Royalty Fund II, totaling C$700 million, in 2010.
Match Marketing Group, a Toronto-based company which provides integrated shopping marketing solutions, bought Marketing Drive LLC, a shopper marketing agency in Norwalk, Connecticut, and its digital subsidiary Weld Media, from River North Group. The acquisition is Match Marketing's fifth in the last twelve months. Match Marketing is a portfolio company of Beringer Capital, a Canadian private equity firm focused on the marketing services and specialty media industry.
US private equity firm Marlin Equity Partners has acquired Vivonet, Inc., a Vancouver, British Columbia-based point of sale software and systems business for the restaurant industry. No financial terms were disclosed. Prior to Marlin Equity's acquisition, Vivonet was venture-backed. Among the company's Canadian investors since 2005 have been Discovery Capital Corp., Greenstone Venture Partners, Maxam Capital Corp. and Roynat Capital.
JLD Group, which is owned by Canadian private equity firm Champlain Financial Corp., has merged with Équipements Laguë to form Groupe JLD Laguë. The merger is effective March 1, 2013, with each store retaining its brand name and logo.