Kirk Falconer

Hilco UK Ltd., the international arm of Hilco Trading Co. in the United States, last month quietly launched a new investment platform focused on distress opportunities in Canada – Re:Capital Canada LP.

Montréal-based OMsignal Inc., a startup company which develops bio-sensing clothing that connects with mobile devices, has obtained a $1 million seed-stage round of financing. The deal involved Canadian venture capital firms Real Ventures and Golden Venture Partners, as well as TechStars CEO David Cohen. OMsignal said it would open its apparel platform to external parties this summer.

Waterton Global Resource Management, a Toronto-based private equity firm focused on investments in the precious metals sector, has won its bid for the Hollister gold mine and the Esmeralda Mill in Nevada. The acquired assets, purchased through a court-supervised auction, were formerly owned by Great Basin Gold Ltd. Waterton's competitors for the Nevada assets were primarily traditional mining companies. The transaction is expected to be completed on May 17, 2013.

Vancouver's Espresso Capital, which provides venture debt financing to technology companies, announced the first close of its Espresso Fund III at C$35 million. The fund, which is focused on tax credit financing, is expected to be capitalized at over C$150 million. Since 2009, Espresso has deployed over C$40 million in loans to over 130 clients in Canada. Companies recently backed by Espresso include Collabware, MConcierge and Nakina Systems and Skyreader Media.

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 […]

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.