brad meikle
Canadian private equity firm Radar Capital has made an undisclosed investment in Real Matters Inc, a provider of property information services to North American insurance industries. The news follows Real Matters' announcement earlier this week that it had secured $40 million in funding. The investment by Radar is the first for its newly-formed Radar Capital Fund I LP, which is focused on financing late-stage, pre-IPO companies in Canada. Additionally, Toronto-based investment firm Urbana Corp (TSX: URB, URB.A), a backer of the Radar fund since Oct. 2013, has also announced a $4.5 million investment in Real Matters. The Markham, Ont.-based company is also a portfolio investment of Whitecap Venture Partners, an affiliate of Whitecastle Investments and Hobson Equities, and specialty finance firm Wellington Financial.
CRAiLAR Technologies Inc (TSXV: CL) is in talks to close a $2 million private placement with Hydra Ventures B.V., the corporate venture investment arm of the Adidas Group. Hydra Ventures has agreed to subscribe for up to 3,333,333 units of the company, at a proposed subscription price of $0.60 per unit. Based in Victoria, British Columbia, CRAiLAR is a provider of sustainable natural fiber in the form of flax, hemp and other bast fibers for use in textile, industrial, energy, medical and composite material applications.
Toronto-based corporate finance firm GreenBank Capital (CNSX: GBC) has launched two new vehicles to invest in Bitcoin and Bitcoin start-ups. They are called Bitcoin Canada Investments, which will invest in Bitcoin, and Bitcoin Angel Capital, which will invest in early-stage Bitcoin and other digital cryptocurrency-focused companies. GreenBank, which believes it is the first public investment firm to establish a presence in the Bitcoin market, will do a private placement to accredited investors of up to $5 million in debentures with conversion rights into 90% of the common shares of Bitcoin Canada and Bitcoin Angel.
Real Matters Inc has closed $40 million in common equity financing. BMO Capital Markets served as the sole underwriter. Headquartered in both Markham, Ontario and in Buffalo, New York, Real Matters is a provider of commercial and residential property information services to insurance industries in North America. Update: The company is currently a portfolio investment of Whitecap Venture Partners, a partnership of Toronto-based investment firm Whitecastle Investments and Hobson Equities.
Phononic, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based provider of solid-state heat pumps and fully integrated systems that displace compressors for residential and commercial refrigeration, air conditioning and heating, has raised US$21 million in a Series C financing round. The deal was led by Beijing-based Tsing Capital with National Bank Financial, a subsidiary of the National Bank of Canada. Existing investors Venrock and Oak Investment Partners also participated in the round. Proceeds of the investment will be used to expand Phononic's engineering team, transition from pilot to volume manufacturing, and establish a presence in Asia. The company has been venture-backed since 2009.
Montréal-based specialty pharmaceutical company Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (NYSE: VRX and TSX: VRX) has agreed to acquire Solta Medical Inc (NASDAQ: SLTM) for $2.92 per share in cash, which represents a 40% premium to Solta's closing share price on December 13, 2013, or about US$250 million. The Hayward, Calif.-based Solta Medical, a designer, developer and manufacturer of energy-based medical device systems for aesthetic applications, is a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firms Longitude Capital and Great Point Partners. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014 . Earlier this year, Valeant bought eye care specialist Bausch + Lomb Holdings Inc. from Warburg Pincus for US$8.7 billion.
Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp (TSX-V: SSS), a Toronto-based immuno-oncology company developing cancer stem cell-related therapeutics, has obtained $33 million in private placement funding. The transaction was led by an unidentified U.S. healthcare fund, with participation from Special Situations Funds, Ridgeback Capital, Merlin Nexus, Sabby Capital, venBio, Opaleye Management and HSMR Advisors. Investment proceeds will be used to advance the company's CD47 cancer stem cell program through IND-enabling studies, manufacturing and phase 1 clinical trials. Stem Cell Therapeutics in Apr. 2013 acquired Trillium Therapeutics Inc, a Toronto-based biopharmaceuticals company that had been venture-backed since 1997.
Canadian venture capital firm McRock Capital has announced the initial close of its $50 million industrial Internet partnership, McRock iNFund LP. Capital committed was led by BDC Venture Capital with the participation of Canadian and U.S. institutional investors and family offices. The fund closing follows McRock's announcement last month of a strategic partnership with GE Canada to help introduce a higher degree of connectivity and analytics of the digital world to resource sectors. Based in Toronto, McRock invests in Canadian and U.S.-based companies that are targeting large industrial markets looking to maximize efficiency by making their machines, equipment and devices run more intelligently.
Mirametrix Inc, a Montréal-based specialist in human-machine interaction and eye tracking solutions, has received undisclosed funding from Jean-François Grenon and other angel investors affiliated with Anges Québec. Investment proceeds will be used to support the company's global development strategy. Mirametrix was launched in 2011 with the help of $1.2 million in seed financing from TandemLaunch, an accelerator and investor in emerging consumer electronics and multimedia technologies. The company also announced the appointment of entrepreneur Denis Lavallée as its president and CEO. Anges Québec manages a network of 140 investors that has to date backed 34 early-stage companies.
Mobile Data Technologies Ltd (MDT), a designer and builder of data acquisition and control systems for the oil and gas industry, has been bought by an unidentified U.S. energy services company. That report comes from merchant banking services firm The Kirchner Group. The firm did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction. The Acheson, Alberta-based MDT was less than four months ago the recipient of an undisclosed financing from Accelerate Fund LP, an angel co-investment fund managed by Canadian venture capital firm AVAC.