November 1, 2001
Toronto, Ontario – CANEC Inteational is announcing a second orientation of the firm: assisting private equity groups in North America and Europe with mid-market deal sourcing.
Since 1989 CANEC Inteational has successfully assisted many manufacturers in their transatlantic growth. Globalization has also affected the world of private equity. Initiated in the US in the 80's, developed in the UK in the 90's, majority-owned LBO's are now coming to Continental Europe as a major source of capital funding to complement the stock market and traditional banking.
Mid-market LBO fund management teams rely on deal sourcers like CANEC for their overseas platform investments, as well as for the implementation of their add-on strategies.
"We originate a deal flow across the industry spectrum but concentrating on two countries, France and Canada, and on the mid-market segment, i.e., enterprise values ranging between $25 and $250 million", according to Jean-René Hartpence, founding partner of CANEC. "Our competitive advantages are our business networks in these two countries and our understanding of the key drivers behind a successful LBO transaction".
CANEC's first success in this field is a recent deal where Hilite Industries (owned by Blue Point Capital Partners of Cleveland, as well as Citicorp Venture Capital, Key Equity Capital and Kelso & Company) acquired an add-on in Europe. Based on its relationship with Hilite and Blue Point, CANEC identified the target and facilitated the transaction.