Covington Capital and Yellow Point Equity Partners won Deal of the Year awards Tuesday night at an event hosted by Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA).
Covington took home the prize in the venture-capital category for its investment in SXC Health Solutions Inc., which started out as a small Ontario software provider to the Canadian health care industry, and over the course of nearly 10 years developed into multinational corporation with estimated 2010 revenues of $1.9-billion (U.S.).
Private-equity deal of the year went to Yellow Point for its management buyout of CCI Industries. When the company was sold to Tricor Pacific in late 2009, the firm’s four-year investment generated a rate of return of 127 per cent. Edmonton-based CCI Industries is now the world’s largest producer of Allan Block garden, landscape and retaining wall systems and AB Fence products, and it is Western Canada’s biggest manufacturer of concrete masonry products.
Since 1998, CVCA’s Deal of the Year awards have celebrated members that achieved the most significant investment return over the course of a year.
“I'd like to congratulate our Deal of the Year award winners tonight, who clearly enhanced the value of these companies through strong governance, innovation and a longer-term perspective that built sustainable value,” Gregory Smith, president of the CVCA, said Tuesday.” “The winners are clear examples of how venture capital and private equity backed companies support a stronger and more productive Canadian economy and contribute to overall job creation.”
