CVCA Annual Meeting: May 2007 News (Dealscape)

CVCA Annual Meeting: May 2007

CVCA Annual Meeting: Bad news for VC, good news for PE

[Posted on May 29, 2007 at 3:33 PM]

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Filed under: CVCA Annual Meeting | Private Equity | Venture Capital

Things are still looking grim for Canadian venture capital and fantastic for Canadian private equity.

According to figures released Tuesday by Thomson Financial and the Canadian Venture Capital Association, the median cumulative internal rate of return since inception for Canadian VC funds was negative 2.8% as of Dec. 31, 2006 — the same level as 2005.

Canadian VC specialists attribute the weak performance to the small size of Canadian VC funds and the fact that so many were formed at the top of the market in the late 1990s. Gilles Durufle, a consultant who has studied Canadian VCs, said in a speech at Tuesday's Canadian Venture Capital Association meeting that many VC fund managers have improved their practices lately, but "it takes more than one or two years for changes in investment behavior to translate into changes of values of exits."

The performance of buyout funds was much better with a median IRR of 8.5% since inception and 21% in the top quartile. In 2005, the numbers were 11.9% and 16.6%, respectively. —Peter Moreira

CVCA Annual Meeting: KKR dials in on BCE

[Posted on May 29, 2007 at 3:14 PM]

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Filed under: CVCA Annual Meeting | Dealmakers | Editor's Choice | Private Equity

Henry Kravis Tuesday stepped away from any questions about Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.’s bid for Canadian telecom giant BCE Inc., except to remind his audience that KKR would be at most a minority partner in any buyout. In a keynote address to the Canadian Venture Capital Association annual meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Kravis declined to say much about his company’s bid for Montreal-based BCE, which it is making through a consortium that includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Montreal-based pension fund Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec. Canadian laws restrict the foreign ownership of a...

Securing Canada's financial borders

[Posted on May 29, 2007 at 7:08 AM]

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The theme of the Canadian Venture Capital Association’s 2007 conference, which takes place this week in Halifax, N.S., is ``Capital Without Borders.’’ But it’s taking place as some Canadians want the country’s borders strengthened against the inflow of foreign capital. The Opposition Liberal Party in Ottawa on Monday called for the government to delay approval for any corporate takeovers by foreigners for three months while considering changes to foreign investment rules. The statement came a day after the polling agency Ipsos Reid released the results of a poll showing 56% of respondents believe foreign ownership is a real problem in...