Imperial Capital Group is only weeks away from wrapping up a seventh mid-market fund at its $650 million hard cap. Imperial Capital Acquisition Fund VII, launched in December, has already raised or hard-circled commitments above its $500 million target, Managing Partners Jeff Rosenthal and Justin MacCormack told PE Hub Canada. They expect to see a final close at $650 million in April. If this happens, the fund will be the largest in the Toronto private equity firm’s three-decade history, exceeding by 30 percent the $500 million secured by Fund VI in 2017.
Birch Hill Equity Partners’ recent wrap-up of its buy of CCM Hockey signals the start of a potentially fierce contest between hockey brands acquired this year by private equity firms. Birch Hill agreed in July to purchase CCM, a storied, 118-year old Canadian hockey equipment maker, from Adidas for US$110 million in cash and a secured note. The Toronto investor told PE Hub Canada the deal closed last month. It marks 2017's third PE acquisition of one or more hockey brands in North America.
Johnson Controls International Plc is nearing a deal to sell its power solutions business, which makes car batteries, to Brookfield Asset Management for between US$13 billion and US$14 billion, sources told Reuters. The transaction would be one of the largest leveraged buyouts this year and allow Johnson Controls to focus on its building technologies and solutions business. Brookfield, a Canadian investment firm, outbid buyout firm Apollo Global Management LLC in an auction for the power solutions unit, the sources said. Brookfield and Johnson Controls could finalize the terms of a deal for the unit, whose batteries are used in about a third of cars globally, as early as this week.
Travel almost anywhere in North American PE circles and you’ll encounter people who know and speak highly of Rod Senft, founder and managing director of Canadian mid-market private equity firm Tricor Pacific Capital. If you don’t already know Derek Senft, the second of three Senft family siblings, odds are that you will very soon. He is vice president of Pender West Capital Partners, a family office that invests in small and medium-sized companies in Canada and the western United States.
Tricor Pacific Founders Capital has become Founders Group of Food Companies as the Vancouver firm plans to take its North American food-sector strategy to the next level. Launched in 2014 by a group of senior private equity and industry pros, Founders has spent the past three-plus years investing its own capital in businesses focused on specialty seafood and meats, prepared foods, and edible gifts and confections. The rebranding marks a milestone in the firm's progress that includes creating a portfolio of “threshold size,” Partner Derek Senft told PE Hub Canada.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's (CPPIB) Chief Executive Mark Wiseman will step down to take up a role with BlackRock Inc, the world's biggest asset manager, Reuters reported. Wiseman, who has transformed the Toronto-based pension fund into one of the world's most active deal-makers over the past four years, is set to step down next month. He will be replaced by Mark Machin, who heads CPPIB's international operations.
Family office Serruya Private Equity partnered with Lion Capital in acquiring the owner of Great American Cookies, Round Table Pizza and other retail food brands. Last month, Lion and SPE acquired Global Franchise Group from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. Based in Atlanta, GFG owns several major brands in the U.S. quick-service restaurant industry. That puts it right in the wheelhouse of SPE, which invests on behalf of a Canadian family that made its name and fortune by building and buying food ventures. Brothers Michael and Aaron Serruya, both SPE managing directors, began their careers in the 1980s as the founders of frozen yogurt retailer Yogen Früz.
Toronto-based mobile rewards platform Drop has raised $59 million (US$44 million) in a Series B financing, bringing total funding to $95 million (US$71 million). The round was led by U.S. venture capital firm HOF Capital and joined by New Enterprise Associates, Sierra Ventures and White Star Capital. RBC, Canada’s largest bank, also signed on as a strategic investor. Founded in 2015 and led by CEO Derrick Fung, Drop provides a free app that allows users to earn cash rewards on their purchases with more than 300 merchants. In addition, it connects brands with shoppers, including much sought-after Millennials.
Vertu Capital has teamed up with BDC Capital's growth equity group to acquire Firmex, a Toronto provider of virtual data rooms and secure document sharing solutions. Terms weren’t disclosed. Vertu and BDC partnered on the deal with top management, including Joel Lessem, the company’s co-founder and CEO. Debt financing was provided by Bank of Montreal. The seller is Novacap’s mid-market tech group, which acquired Firmex in 2016. Firmex is the inaugural investment of Vertu, a tech private equity firm founded two years ago by Lisa Melchior, a former managing director of OMERS Private Equity.
TriWest Capital Partners had an eventful 2017. The Calgary firm, a 20-year veteran of private equity investing in Western Canada’s mid-market, made two new platform investments, did a handful of add-on deals, and closed full or partial exits from three portfolio companies, one of them in a high-profile initial public offering. Additionally, TriWest Capital Partners Fund V, which raised $500 million in 2015, reached its halfway point in deployments. PE Hub Canada sat down with Senior Managing Directors Cody Church and Mick MacBean to discuss recent deals and how TriWest is navigating today's challenging market environment.