Past Dealmaker Award Recipients
2022 Deal of the Year
Carmanah Technologies
ACG BC is proud to recognize as BC's Middle Market Deal of the Year the sale of Carmanah Technologies to Vance Street Capital, a Los Angeles based private equity firm. The transaction was led by President and CEO Geoff Wilcox and Chairman and former CEO, John Simmons. Carmanah was advised by Fort Capital Partners with a team consisting of Mike Burtch, Aleem Jinnah, Taylor Carter and Nic Xylinas, and by Borden Ladner Gervais LLP with a team consisting of Warren Learmonth and Julie Bogle. The divestiture of Carmanah represented the final move in a strategy set by the Board of Directors in 2019 when the Company was taken private by Terry Holland (Krystal Growth Partners) and Jim Meekison (Trimin Capital).
2022 Deal of the Year Finalist
Harbourfront Wealth Management and Comala Technology Solutions
Harbourfront Wealth Management in its sale to Audax Private Equity, in a transaction led by its founder and CEO Danny Popescu, and advised by Jon Conlin of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP and Ed Higham and Sean Martin of Raymond James Ltd.
2022 Deal of the Year Finalist
Comala Technology Solutions ULC
Comala Technology Solutions ULC in its sale to Appfire Technologies LLC, in a transaction led by its shareholder Roberto Dominguez, and advised by Erica McGuinness of Sequeira Partners, Alexander Demner of Thorsteinssons LLP and Adam Dlin of Stikeman Elliot LLP.
2022 Dealmaker of the Year
Adam Lewis, Founder, Ecofish Research Ltd.
ACG BC is proud to recognize Adam Lewis, founder of Ecofish Research Ltd. ("Ecofish") as Dealmaker of the Year 2022. Together with his team, Adam created significant value for the shareholders and the broader B.C. environmental community by being instrumental in the development of provincial and federal environmental assessment and monitoring guidelines, growing the business organically and through acquisitions, and maintaining a relentless focus on the principles of scientific excellence, professional environmental ethics, and social responsibility. Ecofish was acquired by Trinity Consultants in June 2022 as the cornerstone to Trinity's growing global water and ecology practice.
2022 Dealmaker of the Year Finalist
Darby Kreitz, P. Eng, Founder and CEO, Allnorth Consultants Limited
ACG BC also recognizes Darby Kreitz, Founder and CEO of Allnorth Consultants Limited ("Allnorth") as the Finalist for Dealmaker of the Year 2022. Over the past several years Darby and his team have completed numerous acquisitions which ultimately culminated in Allnorth security Long Point Capital, LLC as a new equity investor in 2022. Not only was this a successful deal for Darby and the company's shareholders, but it also resulted in a strategic partnership that will position Allnorth well for continued expansion.
2021 Deal of the Year
Xypex Chemical Corporation
ACG BC is proud to recognize as BC's Middle Market Deal of the Year the sale of Xypex Chemical Corporation to TorQuest Partners, in a transaction led by CEO D'Arcy Mainwaring. Xypex was advised by PwC Corporate Finance Inc. with a team consisting of Jim Crooks, Ronnie De Zen, Philip Haywood and Daniel Barends, and by Lawson Lundell LLP with a team consisting of David Allard, Andrew Robertson, and Danielle Broadfoot.
2021 Deal of the Year Finalist
FT Synthetics Inc.
FT Synthetics Inc. in its sale to GAF, in a transaction led by its shareholders Gary Sandhar, Surinder Bath, and Sam Lidhar, and advised by Kevin Mayer of Citizens M&A Advisory and Andrew Hennigar of Border Ladner Gervais LLP.
2021 Deal of the Year Finalist
Vessel Packaging Inc.
Vessel Packaging Inc. in its sale to TricorBraun, in a transaction led by CEO Matt Leslie, and advised by Leo Wilson of KPMG Corporate Finance Inc. and Arash Amouzgar of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP.
2021 Dealmaker of the Year
Tom Kramer, President and CEO of Smith Cameron Group
Tom Kramer acquired Smith Cameron, a BC-based pump distribution business, in 2011 with Krystal Growth Partners. After acquiring Smith Cameron, Tom was intimately involved with the sourcing, screening, execution, and integration of six follow-on strategic transactions, before divesting of Smith Cameron in 2021 to Flow Control Group, a KKR Portfolio Company.
2021 Dealmaker of the Year Finalist
Andrew Black, Founder and CEO of VetCare Canada Inc.
ACG BC also recognizes Andrew Black, founder and CEO of VetCare Canada Inc. as finalist for Dealmaker of the Year. In 2021, Andrew and his team led a process to secure a C$175M senior credit facility to support VetCare's growing objective of continued expansion across Canada, and also closed 22 practice acquisitions, building relationships with all vets when leading the acquisition process.
2020 Dealmakers Award Recipients
2020 Deal of the Year
SmartSweets Inc.
The 2020 Deal of the Year award went to SmartSweets Inc., in recognition of its majority stake sale to TPG Growth. SmartSweets is a Vancouver-based better-for-you candy brand that offers customers innovative alternatives to traditional candy products with 87-92 percent less sugar than traditional candy. Founded by Tara Bosch in her kitchen in 2016, SmartSweets’ growth has been incredible, with revenue growing from approximately $15.6 million in 2018, to more than $50 million in 2019, and expected $100 million in 2020. Tara led SmartSweets through the transaction, along with board chair Judy Brooks.
The transaction attracted tremendous interest from a long list of domestic and international private equity and strategic acquirors. SmartSweets was represented by Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP with a team led by Ally Bharmal and Iain Mant. The transaction was executed largely during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding complexity to the negotiations, and was ultimately completely very swiftly following selection of the winning bidder. Financial advisor Piper Sandler also assisted the SmartSweets team.
The acquisition was a landmark transaction in the food and beverage industry, and has further cemented Vancouver and British Columbia as a breeding ground for innovative and successful companies in this area.
2020 Deal of the Year Finalist
Clevest Solutions Inc.
ACG BG is also pleased to recognize Clevest Solutions Inc. and its founder Thomas Ligocki on a very successful exit transaction in its sale to IFS AB. Tom started Clevest approximately 16 years ago and engineered a sale benefitting over 150 shareholders. The Clevest team was guided by legal counsel at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP with a team led by Shahrooz Nabavi, and by financial advisor Fort Capital Partners with a team led by Mike Burtch.
2020 Deal of the Year Finalist
Forewest Holdings Inc.
ACG BC also recognizes Forewest Holdings Inc. in its sale to Rx Drug Mart Inc. Forewest is also a long time growth story with CEO Don Fraser, and his father before him, completing over 30 pharmacy acquisitions since the early 80s. Forewest was assisted by legal counsel at Buckley Hogan Law Office with a team led by Steven Mangat and by Deloitte Corporate Finance Inc. with a team led by Jason Ding.
2020 Dealmaker of the Year
Carl Vanderspek, Trailer Wizards / the 625 Powell Street Foundation
The 2020 Dealmaker of the Year is Carl Vanderspek. Carl started Trailer Wizards in 1963 with the purchase of a single trailer. He grew the business both organically and through over 25 acquisitions to a fleet of more than 24,000 trailers. The sale of Trailer Wizards in late December 2019 did not, however, represent the end of Carl’s impact on British Columbia, as he has earmarked more than 90% of the proceeds from the sale for funding the 625 Powell Street Foundation that he started.
The 625 Powell Street Foundation invests in real estate and has provided multiple not-for-profit entities a place to reside, free of charge, in the face of rising real estate costs in Vancouver. The Foundation’s work includes assistance with the BC Center for Excellence’s launch of Hope to Health Research and Innovation Centre in the DTES of Vancouver, providing accessible healthcare to patients with complex healthcare needs, including HIV. Through his gift to the Foundation, Carl will leverage his success in building a great BC middle market company into generational personal prosperity for those who benefit from the Foundation’s work.
Trailer Wizards was assisted in its sale transaction by financial advisor Kellie Manchester at Sequeira Partners, and legal counsel Nathan Daniels at Mogan Daniels Slager LLP.
2019 Dealmakers Award Recipients
2019 Deal of The Year Award
PDFTron Systems Inc.
Catherine Andersz (CEO & Co-Founder) and Ivan Nincic (CTO & Founder), PDFTron Systems Inc.
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Deloitte Corporate Finance Inc. / Deloitte LLP
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.
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.
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.
2019 Deal of The Year Award Finalist
Primex Technologies Inc.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
2018 Dealmakers Award Recipients
2018 Deal of The Year Award
Agreement Express Inc.
CEO, Mike Gardner
Advisors
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Raymond James Ltd.
McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Deloitte LLP
Agreement Express Inc. is a Vancouver, BC-based leading provider of a SaaS based onboarding automation platform for financial services. Frontier Capital, A North Carolina based private equity firm, acquired control of Agreement Express Inc. through a plan of arrangement in May 2018 for a purchase price representing a return to shareholders of approximately 6.5x invested capital.
Critical to this deal being completed was the participation of Agreement Express' Chief Financial Officer, Brad Carlyle. With a very large base of shareholders, and a complex multi-jurisdictional operating structure, Brad completed the most complex components of due diligence and disclosure. This deal was also completed by a very small deal team, which depended highly on Mr. Carlyle's attention to detail and his energy.
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP acted for Agreement Express with a team that included Iain Mant, Martin Ferreira Pinho and Gosia Piasecka (corporate), Mike Coburn (tax), Tracey Cohen (litigation) and Karam Bayrakal (IP).
Raymond James Ltd. acted as exclusive financial advisor. Raymond James formed a cross-border team led by Sean Martin (Toronto) and Steve Hufford (St. Petersburg, Florida).
McCarthy Tétrault LLP acted for certain management shareholders of Agreement Express, with a team that included Ted Koffman (corporate), Bosa Kosoric (corporate) and Monique Ronning (employment).
Deloitte LLP assisted Agreement Express with certain structuring and tax matters, with a team that included Philippe Montillaud (M&A and tax) and David Mueller (tax).
2018 Dealmaker of The Year Award
Alistair Cook, President & CEO
BID Group Holdings Ltd.
In addition to leading BID through five transformative growth transactions over the past three years (including $125M in acquisitions, strategic partnerships and capital programs, as well as the completion of debt and equity financings in excess of $100M). Alistair is the driving force behind BID's strategy to automate and introduce Al into the wood processing sector.
"Alistair has an exceptional ability to connect with each and every member of the BID team, from the shop floor through to the boardroom of BID's major customers, and a large part of BID's success can be attributed to these leadership and communication skills."
David Schellenberg, Highland West Capital Ltd.
2017 Dealmakers Award Recipients
2017 Deal of The Year Award
Daiya Foods Inc.
Terry Tierney, CEO, Daiya Foods Inc.
Ally Bharmal, Partner, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Rick Kohn, Partner, Deloitte LLP
Janica Lane, Managing Director, Consumer Investment Banking, Piper Jaffray
Dealmaker of the Year Award Recipient
Elana Rosenfeld, Co-founder and CEO
Kicking Horse Coffee Co. Ltd
2016 Dealmakers Award Recipients
2016 Deal of The Year Award
Scott McIntosh, President, Coastal Pacific Xpress (CPX)
Advisor: Deloitte Corporate Finance
Tim Berman, President
Fluxwerx Illumination
Advisor: Mogan Daniels Slager LLP
2015 Dealmakers Award Recipients
Dealmakers of The Year Award Recipient
Stuart Suls, President & CEO, Mr. Lube Canada LP
Advisor: PWC Corporate Finance
Kevin McElroy, President, Nuheat Industries
Neil Johansen, Managing Partner, Fulcrum Capital Partners
Advisor: Lazard Middle Market
ACG Leadership Award Recipient Recipient
Hugh Notman, Managing Partner
CCC Investment Banking
2014 Dealmakers Award Recipients
Dealmakers of The Year Award Recipient
Richard Harris of Golden Boy Foods Ltd. and Rob Wildeman of Tricor Pacific Capital
Advisor: Lazard Middle Market
Jeff Hart Can-Sure Underwriting Ltd.
Advisor: Capital West Partners
ACG Builders Award Recipient
Doug Cruikshank of The Cruikshank Advisory Group Ltd.
2013 Dealmakers Award Recipients
Dealmakers of The Year Award Recipient
Robert Miller, President & CEO, PRT Growing Services Ltd.
John Anderson, President, Chairman & CEO, The Oppenheimer Group
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
Rod Senft, Tricor Pacific Capital
2012 Dealmakers Award Recipients
Dealmakers of The Year Award Recipient
Elana Rosenfeld, Kicking Horse Coffee
Ed Yurowski and Jim Dales, Procon Mining and Tunnelling Group
Martin Bates and David Chapman, Crossroads C&I Distributors
2011 Dealmakers Award Recipients
Dealmakers of The Year Award Recipient
Leroy Reitsma and Doug Beckman, Pinnacle Renewable Energy Group
Rick McClymont and David Taft, Britco Group
Shannon Susko, Subserveo Inc.
2010 Dealmakers Award Recipients
Dealmakers of The Year Award Recipient
Brad Miller, IMW Industries
Joseph Calvano, Dollar Giant
Jack Lee, 4Refuel