Q-News

January 2009

Private Equity - December 2008

Posted in Private Equity

The year 2008 ended with reasonably good deal flow, with 12 Canadian companies receiving private capital as compared to the nine deals announced in December of 2007.  Despite the increase in the number of transactions there was a considerable drop off in the amount of capital raised through the reported financings.  The reported figures in this December’s financings added up to $35.8 million in funding, substantially lower than the $112 million in new capital announced in December of 2007.  Eight of the companies that received funding this past December are based in Ontario and seven of the transactions involved companies in the technology space.  It is also interesting to note that none of these deals were funded by US-based investors.  With respect to Canadian investment abroad, the news was dominated by MMV Financial, which extended venture loans to two companies out of the US and another one in the UK.

 

Details on December’s financing activities are listed below.

Financings of Canadian Companies:

 

Overlay.TV of Ottawa raised $4.6 million from Celtic House Venture Partners, Tech Capital Partners and Edgestone Capital Partners to continue development of the company’s platform for customizable online video. 

 

Kilmer Capital Partners and BMO Capital Corporation provided $4.5 million in acquisition financing to allow Quebec’s Algorithme to expand its clinical research business by buying out Wales-based Simbec Research.

 

Biopharmacopae Design International of Quebec announced an A round financing from Avrio Ventures.  The company develops plant-derived products used in skin care and as nutritional supplements.

 

Interface Biologics, a Toronto-based developer of nano-engineered biomedical-polymers used in medical devices, raised $5 million in new equity from Covington Capital, VG Partners and BDC Capital.

 

NetShelter Technology Media, a Toronto-based developer of open media marketing software, raised $11.1 million from Rho Canada, GrowthWorks and JLA Ventures.

 

AideRSS, a Waterloo company that provides tools used in measuring engagement in online media, raised another round of financing from Tech Capital Partners. 

 

Rx Networks, a Vancouver-based company providing solutions built around its GPS technology, received an injection of $1.85 million in growth capital from British Columbia Discovery Fund, Audiovox Canada and TELUS Ventures.

 

Waterloo’s Metranome announced the closing of a $1.5 million round from Tech Capital Partners.  The company’s core technology, Poptiq, is a mobile video application aimed at the iPod Touch and iPhone devices. 

 

Great Lakes Fish Corporation received $2 million from VG Partners to expand its freshwater fish processing operations in Ontario by acquiring the Kingsville Fishermen's Company. 

 

Embotics, a Toronto company that develops software that tracks and manages virtual servers, closed a $4 million B round financing.  Covington Capital was the lead investor.   

 

Morningside Venture, a Hong Kong based VC firm, made a $250K investment in MedMira Inc (TSX-V: MIR, NASDAQ: MMIRF), a Newfoundland company that develops and manufactures diagnostic products used in the health care industry.

 

Bedlam Games, a console video game developer based in Toronto, raised $1 million in new equity.  The details of the deal were not announced. 

 

 

Canadian Investments South of the Border and Around the World

 

MMV Financial extended a new loan facility to iJET Intelligent Risk Systems.  The Maryland-based company develops global risk management software aimed at corporate and government clients.

 

MMV Financial also made a $2 million venture loan to LogicTree Corporation.  The Maryland-based company is a provider of telecom products and services, specializing in IVR solutions.

 

MMV Financial provided part of the $10 million in new debt just raised by Icera, a fabless semiconductor company operating out of the UK. 

 

 

Fund News:

 

The BC Discovery Fund, an LSIF managed by Discovery Capital Management Corp., and two VenGrowth LSIFs, VenGrowth Investment Fund I & VenGrowth Investment Fund II, all suspended redemptions to their investors.  VenGrowth announced that it has moved to a model whereby investors will get their capital back through monthly distributions of the proceeds of portfolio exits.  The BC Discovery Fund will resume redemptions once more non-committed capital becomes available for distribution.

 

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