Q-News

April 2010

M&A News - March 2010

Posted in M&A News

There were 13 M&A deals reported in March.  Four of the announcements involved a cross-border transaction – half of which had the Canadian company as the target.  Only three of the deals involved financial buyers as the headlines were dominated by strategic acquirers.  Overall, the buyers snapped up six service businesses, four technology companies, a men’s clothing company, a local search publisher, and a national lottery.  The busiest province was definitely Ontario, home to eight of the target companies and four of the acquirers.

 

 

Canadian M&A Transactions:

 

Montreal-based Yellow Pages Group (TSX: YLO.UN), a Canada-wide commercial search and listings provider, acquired Vancouver-based local search publisher Canadian Phone Directories Holdings (Canpages) for $225 million, from an investor group led by HM Capital Partners.

 

Research in Motion, the Waterloo-based maker of the BlackBerry, acquired Viigo, a Toronto-based company whose software delivers syndicated content to mobile phones.  Viigo had previously raised money from the RIM-sponsored BlackBerry Partners Fund, as well as Ventures West and RBC Venture Partners.

 

Site360 Consulting, a civil engineering firm headquartered in Kelowna, BC, has merged with MMM Group Limited, a consulting and engineering practice based out of Thornhill, Ontario. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

 

Toronto-based Onx Enterprise Solutions, which specializes in the design and operation of mission-critical computing environments, has acquired a controlling stake in Ottawa-based Foxwise Technologies, an IT service provider and integrator that qualifies as an aboriginal company under Canada’s Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business (PSAB).

 

New Brunswick-based Barrett Xplore, a provider of wireless broadband services, has acquired Everus Communications, a Waterloo-based internet service provider, in an asset purchase.  The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. 

 

Grano Retail Investments, a Toronto-based vehicle focused on opportunities in the retail, wholesale and manufacturing sectors, has acquired Samuelsohn, a Montreal-based men’s clothing firm.  The price of the acquisition was not disclosed.

 

Mississauga-based CSDC Systems acquired Ottawa’s Grantium for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition has strategic rationale, as both companies service government demand for software solutions.  With the acquisition, CSDC will increase the breadth of its product portfolio by adding web-enabled grant program management.

 

A Brockville, Ontario-based consulting and engineering services firm Wardrop Engineering has acquired Hydromantis, an environmental consulting and software company headquartered in Hamilton.

 

Markham, Ontario-based Consorteum Holdings (OTCBB: CSRH), which provides electronic transaction processing services to the financial, healthcare and other sectors, has announced that it intends to acquire Toronto’s Tenzing Interactive, which develops proprietary internet and mobile marketing technologies aimed at generating consumer dialogue.  Tenzing’s most popular technology is Pics2Web.

 

 

Cross Border M&A:

 

Winnipeg’s Celco Controls, which provides automation solutions to industries such as steel, mining, as well as oil and gas, was acquired by High Road Capital Partners (NY) in a leveraged buyout. The Bank of Montreal and BMO Capital Markets provided the senior and subordinated debt, respectively. The purchase price was not disclosed.

 

Spain’s Applus+ Servicios Tecnologicos, which provides testing and certification services to companies involved in food and agriculture, art, product and systems, consumption, materials and industrial processes, edification, electric and electronics, vessels and crafts, and gaming technologies, expanded its’ Eastern Canadian presence by acquiring Burlington’s Staveley Services Canada.

 

Vancouver-based Hootsuite, the company behind a dashboard aimed at managing multiple social networks accounts, originally developed by Invoke Media, acquired US-based Swift App, the developer behind the technology that optimizes Hootsuite’s solution for the Android mobile platform.

 

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan acquired Camelot Group, the exclusive owner of a license to operate UK’s National Lottery, for approximately C$590 million.  Camelot was a publicly listed company but all of its stock had been divided up among five investors: Cadbury Shweppes, Thales Electronics, Fujitsu Services, Royal Mail Enterprises, and De La Rue Holdings.

 

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