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Madison Dearborn makes $100M QuickPlay deal

by David Holley | Published July 9, 2012 at 3:45 PM

Chicago private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC has taken a controlling stake in QuickPlay Media Inc. for $100 million in equity, providing exits for all but one of the video streaming company's venture backers.

Madison Dearborn was likely attracted to the Toronto-based company's revenue growth: a 327% increase during the past five years. It also is a company with no existing debt, a position that won't be changing with the Madison Dearborn deal. QuickPlay chief executive and co-founder Wayne Purboo said he believed the firm is contributing the capital from an existing fund.

"It's a great place to be," Purboo said during an interview with The Daily Deal. "We feel we are at the beginning of a trend of delivering all content over an IP network. We believe that delivery over IP networks over any device is really disruptive over the current model."

QuickPlay provides outsourcing services for large companies -- such as AT&T Inc., Television Broadcast Ltd. and Bell Inc. -- that stream live and on-demand video to users over the Internet. The business has shifted in recent years as more users demand streaming to their mobile and other wireless devices through Internet protocol, or IP, connections.

This capital infusion is meant to help QuickPlay expand globally, especially in high-growth markets such as Europe and Asia, Purboo said. That will mean marketing itself to gain new clientele in those regions, as well as by being opportunistic about acquisitions, he said.

Since its founding in 2004, QuickPlay has received $43 million in venture investments from GMP Securities LP, General Catalyst Partners, JLA Ventures, Up Capital Ltd. and Ventures West Management Inc. All of those investors are exiting with the investment from Madison Dearborn, while one other minority shareholder, Toronto-based Difference Capital Inc., is keeping a minority stake.

QuickPlay employees and Madison Dearborn own the rest of the company. Madison Dearborn declined to comment on the transaction.

QuickPlay has been recognized by Deloitte as one of North America's fastest-growing companies. Its primary service, the OpenVideo platform, manages more than 1.5 million content assets for more than 3,000 content providers.

Samantha Horn, Katrina Svihran, Andrew Bozzato and John Lorito from Stikeman Elliott LLP advised QuickPlay on the deal. William Blair & Co. LLC was the company's financial adviser, with a team comprised of managing directors Robert Abbe and Per-Ake Stahl, vice president Charles Ruppert and analyst Greg South. Kirkland & Ellis LLP advised Madison Dearborn.

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