Q-News

March 2011

M&A News - March 2011

Posted in M&A News

There were eight private M&A transactions reported during March with six of them involving cross-border participants and all of the international deals involved a foreign buyer purchasing a Canadian target.  In total, three of eight transactions involved the acquisition of a Canadian technology company while two of the remaining firms acquired generate at least a portion of their revenue using online portals.  


Canadian M&A Transactions

RIM acquired TinyHippos, a company comprised of a group of Waterloo-based mobile web developers responsible for Ripple, a platform that allows programmers to test and debug mobile applications across multiple platforms.  

Westridge Cabinets, an Alberta-based kitchen cabinetry manufacturer founded in 1983, was acquired by Toronto-based private equity firm Signal Hill Capital Partners.  Westridge Cabinets has 300 employees across Alberta, a 140,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and four design & service centers within the province.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

 

Cross Border M&A

Radian6, a social media monitoring firm operating out of New Brunswick, was acquired for $326 million in cash and stock by Salesforce, a San Francisco company that is responsible for today’s most popular SaaS-based CRM platform.

First Coverage was acquired by UK-based You Devise.  Both companies have developed software that facilitates the exchange of trade ideas between institutional investors and brokerage firms.  You Devise will absorb First Coverage’s clients and technology in order to provide all of its customers with a best of breed solution resulting from the two companies’ offerings.  First Coverage was started in Toronto but moved its headquarters to Boston after receiving several rounds of funding from Massachusetts-based GrandBanks Capital and Commonwealth Capital Ventures, as well as JLA Ventures.

Apax Partners acquired Trader Corporation from Quebec-based Yellow Media (TSX: YLO) for $745 million.  Trader Corporation prints 160 publications and operates 22 websites focused primarily on automotive, real estate, employment, and general merchandise listings.

Excel Pac, a Quebec-based company that manufactures packaging, predominantly for the food industry, was acquired by Packaging Solutions. The Illinois-based acquirer was founded in 2010 by Wellspring Capital Management with the intention of acquiring companies that provide packaging products and eventually became one of the ten largest packaging companies in North America. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Private equity firm Counsel Corporation of Toronto intends to acquire Street Capital Financial Corporation, a Toronto-based residential mortgage lender that has originated $5.3 billion in mortgages since the company’s founding in 2007.  

Tell Us About Us was acquired by Market Force Information.   Tell Us About US is a Winnipeg-based company that uses traditional as well as web-based satisfaction surveys, field studies, and mystery shoppers to help clients gather information on their customers and employees.  Colorado-based Market Force will absorb Tell Us About Us in order to compliment their own portfolio of customer intelligence services.  Tell Us About Us was backed by GrowthWorks.

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