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Cross border financings included two VC investments, a private equity raise by one of Canada’s exchanges, and a convertible debt issue in the biotech sector. M&A activity included two transactions involving U.S players that bought out Canadian targets.
Details of May’s cross border activity are listed below.
U.S. Activity in Canada
Ottawa-based Zmags raised $4.2 million in Series B funding from OpenView Venture Partners (Massachusetts), bringing the total investment in the company up to $7 million. The company develops digital publishing software and plans to use the capital to expand the company’s sales and marketing efforts in the U.S.
Rho Capital (NY) put $2.0 million into Vancouver’s MovieSet, a movie production portal which offers fans a peek onto sets of upcoming films.
MedMira Inc. of Nova Scotia (TSX-V: MIR, NASDAQ: MMIRF), a developer of flow-through rapid diagnostics, entered in to an agreement with YA Global Investments LP, a New Jersey-based private equity fund, for the issuance of $US 1 million in convertible debentures.
Vernon & Park Capital, LP (Illinois) acquired a minority stake in Canadian Trading and Quotation System Inc. (CNQ), a Toronto stock exchange dedicated to equity securities of emerging companies. CNQ developed and launched a high-speed trading facility, Pure Trading, which provides an effective and cost efficient alternative for the trading of Canadian equity securities designed to meet the needs of today’s global electronic participants. Details of the transaction were not released.
Cross Border M&A
Gemcom Software International Inc (TSX: GCM), a Vancouver-based supplier of mining productivity solutions, was acquired by The Carlyle Group (Washington) and JMI Equity (Baltimore). The deal is valued at approximately C$180 million.
OncoGenex Technologies Inc. (British Columbia), a privately held biopharmaceutical development company announced a merger with Sonus Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Washington (NASDAQ: SNUS). The transaction will be structured as a share swap wherein OncoGenex will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonus Pharmaceuticals.