2019 Dealmakers Award Recipients

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2019 Deal of The Year Award

PDFTron Systems Inc. 

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Catherine Andersz (CEO & Co-Founder) and Ivan Nincic (CTO & Founder), PDFTron Systems Inc.
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Deloitte Corporate Finance Inc. / Deloitte LLP

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Founded in 1998 in Vancouver, BC, PDFTron Systems Inc. is a leading document processing technology provider, enabling digital transformation as part of enterprise and commercial applications by offering a full-fledged document processing, conversion, viewing and collaboration platform for PDF, MS Office, CAD and other digital documents. Additionally, PDFTron’s latest B2C offering, XODO, is one of the top-rated and fastest growing document productivity applications and is used by millions of users world-wide. PDFTron had not previously raised any third party debt or taken on outside investors to fuel growth. Led by the company's two co-founders, PDFTron bootstrapped its way to one of the largest technology deals in Canada and received significant industry spotlight on its success.

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PDFTron is a prime example of the high caliber companies Vancouver has in its growing technology hub. The deal showcases that Vancouver home-grown technology companies can compete on a global scale, attract international investor appetite from top tier-1 investors and shape the future of the technology industry in Canada and globally.

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Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP acted for PDFTron Systems Inc. as M&A counsel with a team that included Blair Horn (M&A), Geoff Pedlow (M&A), Michael Coburn (Tax), KC Miu (Banking), Dierk Ullrich (Corporate), Gosia Piasecka (M&A), Matthew Larsen (Employment) and Laura Smith (Real Estate).

Deloitte acted as exclusive financial advisor, ran a competitive process and provided key transactional advice to PDFTron Systems Inc, with a M&A team led by Doug Beaton, Sandra Suh, David Lam, Louisa Yeung, Liza Akhvledziani, and Kevin Zhao, and a Tax team led by Philippe Montillaud.

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2019 Deal of The Year Award Finalist

Primex Technologies Inc.

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Bob Smart, President & CEO, Primex Technologies Inc.
Joe Lucke and Steve Hnatiuk, Managing Partners, Lighthouse Equity Partners
Greg Hollingsworth, Partner, Corporate, M&A and Private Equity, Lawson Lundell LLP
Jim Crooks, Managing Director & Partner, Consulting & Deals, PwC Corporate Finance

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Primex Technologies Inc. was acquired by Lighthouse Equity Partners in late 2014 in partnership with Primex management.  Lighthouse and its management partners developed a focused growth strategy, and invested strategically, to put in place the resources that would build Langley-based Primex into North America’s leading innovator of “connectivity infrastructure” products. Within four years, Primex grew significantly, doubling the business that had taken the previous four decades to build. The Primex team expanded to nearly 150 and sales expanded aggressively into the US broadband carrier market.

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Today, Primex is the category leader in connectivity infrastructure products. Primex sets the market standard for the most extensive, innovative, integrated suite of products utilized by the world’s leading broadband carriers as they seek efficiency in how their network components are installed, enclosed, connected, and managed to service the modern smart home needs of their subscribers.

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Exceptionally well positioned for continued growth, innovation, and market leadership, Primex was acquired in 2019 by Oldcastle Infrastructure, a division of European multi-national CRH Plc., the largest building materials company in North America.

 

 

2019 Dealmaker of The Year Award

Amin Shivji, Founder & CEO, 123 Dentist

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Dr. Amin Shivji spearheaded the launch of the 123Dentist National Platform in July 2017. The company is a majority dentist-owned, Canadian dental support organization with practices across the country and offices in Vancouver and Toronto. Dr. Shivji is the CEO and an experienced operator of dental practices, having opened his first practice in 1993. Supported by his executive team – Chris Fregren, Ali Bozorgzad, and Aaron Lipton - Dr. Shivji has led the development of the National Platform through leveraging a deep understanding of the BC market and expanding nationally. In their two short years since the foundation of the National Platform, 123Dentist has completed more than 60 deals to acquire close to 80 dental practices up to September 30, 2019, with over 30 acquisitions in the 2018 calendar year alone. To accelerate their growth strategy, 123Dentist successfully raised CA$425 million, including $300 million in committed growth capital and a further $125 million accessible from both equity and debt partners.

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2019 Dealmaker of The Year Award Finalist

Tony Hayes, CEO, Waypoint Insurance

 

Waypoint Insurance traces its roots back over one hundred years to several small family owned brokerages located in Northern Vancouver Island which subsequently merged into Vancouver Island Insurance Centres Ltd. The company was widely held by its employees and concentrated on the Vancouver Island market. Tony Hayes joined Waypoint Insurance Services as President in 2014 with the mandate to grow the company. Tony and the entire team undertook a number of initiatives including rebranding to the Waypoint name, completing a number of broker acquisitions on Vancouver Island and in Metro Vancouver and redefined their working relationships with both insurance markets and other suppliers. The net results were Waypoint was able to double revenues and profits over a four year period. 2019 marked the culmination of Waypoint’s entrepreneurial story in a sale to Navacord, a leading Canadian brokerage, which resulted in a financial payoff to the 30 employee shareholders that far surpassed their expectations.