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Cross Border Activity - October 2007

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Cross border activity slowed in October, and primarily consisted of U.S. venture firms targeting Ontario-based companies. The largest cross border financing transaction involved Eloqua Corp. of Toronto, who secured $23 million from a consortium of investors based in California. Details of October’s cross border activity are listed below.

Eloqua Corp. (Ontario), a supplier of automated demand generation software and services for B2B marketers, received US$23 million in Series C funding. New investor Bessemer Venture Partners (California) led the financing, along with existing investors JMI Equity (Baltimore) and Bay Partners (California).
MOBIVOX (Quebec) received $11 million in Series A venture capital funding. IDG Ventures Boston led the deal, which included participation from IDG Ventures China and IDG Ventures Vietnam. Also, previous investors Brightspark Ventures (Ontario) and Skypoint Capital Corporation (Ontario) participated in the round.
Casero Inc. (Ontario) raised $5.8 million in Series B funding. The deal was led by Rembrandt Venture Partners (California), and was joined by return backers Argo Global Capital Partners, Highland Capital Partners and Casero co-founders. Casero Inc. is a provider of white-label and Web 2.0 products for service providers.
Fermentas International Inc. (Ontario) signed a definitive agreement to accept a significant minority investment from Summit Partners (Massachusetts). Fermentas is a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of high-quality molecular biology products.

Cross Border M&A

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan acquired Glass, Lewis & Co. (California), a leading investment research and governance services provider, for US$46 million.
Sweden’s Biolipox AB agreed to acquire Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s (TSX: IZP) assets for $4 million cash and up to $7 million in potential royalties. The acquisition is still pending approval from Inflazyme’s shareholders.
Thomas Weisel Partners (California) agreed to acquire Westwind Partners (Ontario), an independent I-bank focused on the energy and mining sectors. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Intertek Group (Texas) announced that its Restricted Substances Consulting Services Group acquired Ageus Solutions (Ontario). Intertek is a leading international provider of quality and safety services to a wide range of industries. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.