H1 2019 VC & PE Activity: CVCA Data Sneak Peek
According to preliminary data (final data is targeted to be published on August 27), Q2 VC investment hit $1.28B over 143 deals, the highest quarterly mark in the last six years, just edging the $1.25B in the fourth quarter of 2018. This brings the YTD total to $2.1B, 29% higher than the $1.66B invested in the first half of last year.
There were 11 $50M+ mega-deals totaled $895M accounting for a record 42% share of total investments since 2013. Almost half of this was generated from $100M+ deals, the largest of which included:
- Hamilton-based Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s $140M round from a syndicate of investors which included Genesys Capital Management Inc. and Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust (FACIT).
- Toronto-based Vena Solutions Inc.’s$115M growth equity financing from US investors.
There were two VC-backed IPOs which broke last year’s drought and included Montreal-based unicorn Lightspeed POS Inc.’s $1.1B debut on TMX.
Canadian PE investment in Q22019 was 36% higher than the first quarter but the YTD total of $4.5B is only one-third the amount invested during the same time last year ($14.9B). The $1B mega buyout of London, ON-based Autodata Solutions Inc. eclipsed the remaining activity which remained sluggish in comparison to the previous two years.
Buyouts made up a quarter of the 289 PE deals capturing a 40% share of total investment ($1.8B). Growth deals accounted for a fifth of YTD deal flow amounting to $1B, a 22% share of total investment. There were 126 PE debt deals which captured a 19% share of dollars invested.
The pace of PE-backed exits also slowed with only 15 exits in H12019 compared to 87 last year. In this year’s largest exit Industrial Scientific. paid $570M to acquire Toronto-based Intelex Technologies Inc. from HarbourVest Partners LLCand JMI Equity.
The CVCA thanks the following firms who participated in the H12019 survey:
