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Cross Border Activity - January 2009

Posted in Cross Border Activity

During the month two US funds made investments in Canadian companies.  This was an improvement over December where there was a complete absence of reported cross border financings.   Things also remained rather quiet on the M&A front where both US-led acquisitions were made by public companies, as private equity buyers sat on the sidelines.

 

Details of January’s cross border deals are listed below.

 

 

U.S. Activity in Canada

 

Ariziona-based Flagstone Capital injected $1.2 million into ConverItLive, a Toronto-based company developing a platform for live blogging.

 

Chicago’s Talon Merchant Capital injected $7.6 million into Liquidation World (TSX: LQW) of Brantford.  Liquidation World received $4 million in cash with the balance represented by the assets of the US Wholesale Business currently carried on by Talon. 

 

 

Cross Border M&A

 

Premier Spa Collections, a Toronto company operating over 375 luxury spas and salons across North America, expanded its operations by another 600 salons and entered the retail beauty supplies business by acquiring Trade Secret, a division of Regis Corporation.  Premier is backed by Falconhead Capital.

 

FTI Consulting (NYSE: FCN), a NY-based consultancy to the communications industry, acquired The Element Agency, a Vancouver-based communications consultancy specializing in sustainability, issue advocacy, and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

 

Chicago’s PCTEL (NASDAQ:PCTI) acquired Wi-Sys Communications, an Ontario-based company developing GPS technologies, for $2.1 million.  The acquisition will be rolled up into PCTEL’s antenna products group.