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Stirling Newsletters

From time to time, Stirling posts newsletters which include our understanding of current capital market conditions,  investment trends and popular investment topics, events we attend, and our articles and presentations.

 Click the graphics below to download our newsletters

Spring 2008                                      Summer 2008

Stirling Client Digital Payment Technologies Chosen To Present at the Exclusive CIX Investor Show in Toronto

April 2008 - The CIX is an event that provides early-stage companies in the communications, digital media and technology sectors with the opportunity to showcase themselves before an audience of hundreds of investors and financiers from across North America.

From the CIX website: "Canada's 20 Hottest Innovative Companies have been chosen! Coming from Burnaby, BC to Quebec City and ranging from web to wireless, software to hardware, gaming and everything in between, the finalists for CIX Hot 20 Presenting Companies were adjudicated by the Selection Committee. The committee had the impossible job of selecting just twenty companies to present from a tremendous field of applicants. The Hot 20 will present live at CIX on April 29 and 30."

Digital Payment Technologies is an innovative leader in the design, manufacture, and distribution of electronic parking meters, management software, and online services for the multi-billion-dollar parking industry. The company’s products provide complete financial tracking, control, and reporting on parking revenue collected by cities, municipalities, universities, parking management companies, private operators, and national parks, from customer payment through to bank deposit. In 2007, DPT was named Emerging Company of the Year by the British Columbia Technology Industry Association.

In July of 2006, Stirling assisted Digital Payment Technologies with raising of over $4 million for working capital.

Stirling to Sponsor ACETECH, Whistler, 2008

February 2008- Stirling Mercantile is pleased to be sponsoring the ACETECH Symposium at Whistler March 5-7, 2008 at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

ACETECH, a non-profit society now in its 15th year,  is dedicated exclusively to CEOs in technology and life sciences companies and is geared to the unique environment of the chief executive role.  Through Annual Symposia, CEO Roundtables, Growth Strategy Program and our CEO Speaker Series, ACETECH is an on-going opportunity to connect with the best and the brightest stars in the technology field.

Stirling Partners Hugh Notman and David Shore will attend the event. David will thank speaker David Yoffie, (Harvard B-School professor and director of Intel, Charles Schwab, and Spotfire Corporation) for the first presentation of the event Wednesday morning and provide a brief overview of how Stirling Mercantile can help attendees finance growth and complete M&A activities. 

Shore Speaks at Simon Fraser University

November 2007- David Shore provided some thoughts on business planning to a combination of business and engineering students at SFU in Burnaby, B.C. 

The audience included 4th year business students taking the "New Venture Planning" course and 2nd year engineers taking a business basics course. Both groups were collaborating on preparing business plans for their annual competition.

In this hour long talk titled "Plan Your Exit at the Outset" David suggested students detail the value drivers that buyers will consider  when the entrepreneurs eventually sell their enterprise and strategically plan to maximize those metrics at the concept stage. The slides are available by clicking the title slide to the right.

Click for PDF presentation

Stirling Client Uniserve Acquires ParaSun

May 2007- We are pleased to announce the closing of a $15.3 million financing for repeat Stirling client Uniserve Communications Corporation to purchase the shares of ParaSun Technologies Inc..  

Stirling sourced the transaction, assisted Uniserve management to negotiate a winning bid amid aggressive competition, facilitated the debt financing of $10m from Crown Capital of Toronto and assisted with closing of the acquisition and the financing.

The press release from Uniserve is below:

Vancouver, B.C. May 28, 2007 

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Uniserve Communications Corporation (“Uniserve”) is pleased to announce that it has acquired all of the shares of Parasun Technologies Inc. (“Parasun”), a private British Columbia based technology company, for a purchase price of $12,500,000. $10,000,000 was paid at closing and up to $2,500,000 will be payable subject to the fulfillment of certain financial performance requirements. Parasun provides software and services to the Cable and Electric Utility Industries, enabling operators to deliver high-speed connectivity and other IP services to their customers. Parasun has relationships with over 200 cable systems, primarily in the United States, providing high-speed data services to over 150,000 cable customers.

“We feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to acquire a company the quality of Parasun, with strong organic growth and great technology”, says William Spratt, President and CEO of Uniserve,

“Parasun’s software applications will enhance Uniserve’s Canadian wholesale offerings and the product capability acquired through the recent acquisition of Knowledge Based Telephony Systems Corp. (“KBT”), will create new revenue opportunities for both the Parasun and Uniserve businesses”.

Steven MacDonald, President of Parasun, commented. "All of us at Parasun are excited about joining the Uniserve team. Uniserve’s technology solutions along with acquisitions such as KBT, will add to the product suite we can now offer to our cable and electric utility partners. The senior management of Parasun looks forward to contributing to the aggressive growth plans of Uniserve”

Shore Speaks at New Ventures BC Competition

June 2007- David Shore teamed up with Lions Capital Fund partner and CFO Tanner Philp to present strategies for financing early stage companies. Tanner provided the story from a VC's perspective and David provided the view for the company's side of the negotiation table. The presentation is available by clicking the icon to the right.

Established by SFU Business, the annual TELUS New Ventures BC competition is operated by the non-profit BC Venture Society and made possible through the generous support of both private and public sponsors as well as more than 150 volunteer mentors judges, speakers and workshop leaders.

Click for PDF presentation

Stirling Client Sutus Inc. Closes $5 Million Series A

March 2007 - Sutus Inc., developer of Business Central, a complete office communications solution designed specifically for small businesses, today announced it closed $5 million in Series A funding from two of Canada’s leading investors, the Working Opportunity Fund, managed by GrowthWorks Capital, and BDC Venture Capital. The proceeds from the funding will be used to fund general company operations, build the sales channel, and initiate manufacturing through general availability of its solution.

Founded in 2001, with over $5.5 million invested into its technology pre-Series A, Sutus is preparing to commercialize its office communications solution targeted at the small business market. Sutus’ Business Central consolidates three key business applications; voice, data, and networking into one easy-to-use enterprise-quality solution. Designed to be affordable, secure, and easy to install, use, and manage, Business Central is targeted at businesses with fewer than 25 users.

Stirling Mercantile Corporation acted as exclusive advisor to the Company.

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Shore speaks at The Building Value Symposium

February 2007- David Shore participated in a panel discussing best practices for marketing a business for sale or financing.

The Building Value Symposium "focuses on the things that impact value from an investor's viewpoint, uncovering a company's "value-gap", flushing out a short-list of actions to drive company value, and taking the mystery out of the process of attracting investors and/or buyers."

Click for PDF presentation

Stirling Client Sutus wins Best IT Company at the 2006 Financing Forum Awards. 

Sutus' full press release is here (and a summary is below). The financing forum's full press release is here.

Sutus Wins Best IT Company Award at the 10th Annual Canadian Financing Forum

Vancouver, BC: November 16, 2006 -- Sutus Inc., developer of Business Central, a complete office communications solution and hosted applications gateway, designed specifically for small businesses, has been awarded the Best Company in the Information Technology category at the 10th annual Canadian Financing Forum. The Financing Forum features presentations from the best and most promising private technology companies in Canada, with 35 technology companies competing for attention from over 70 top tier investors from across Canada and the United States.

"We would like to thank the Canadian Financing Forum for both the opportunity to present our company and their acknowledgment of Sutus as Best IT Company," said Jerry Meerkatz president and CEO Sutus. "It is an exciting time for Sutus as we have received fantastic market validation with our limited availability product and are in the midst of completing channel sales agreements to coincide with our general product release early next year."

"This audience represented many billions of investment capital," says Kathy Standeven of CanadaIT, the event organizer. "It may not be a cash prize, but these Financing Forum awards are gold to companies prospecting for investment dollars in a competitive investment market. Awards winners in previous years raised as much as $40 million in new financing. We look forward to seeing their progress when we see them again at our next event in 2007."

Stirling Client Nahanni Manufacturing Ltd. Closes $2.25 Million

October 2006- We are pleased to announce the closing of a $2.25 million financing conducted for Nahanni Manufacturing Ltd..  

In July 2006 we were contacted by Gary George, who had found a business he wanted to buy. Gary was interested in exploring a number of alternatives in order to finance the acquisition of Nahanni Manufacturing Ltd., a well known manufacturer of dump truck bodies in the Vancouver area. In existence for over 30 years, it had been purchased three years earlier by the vendor who had successfully tripled production and sales in response to a significant increase in demand driven by BC’s major infrastructure programs. Without any family members to take over the operations, the vendor was looking for an orderly succession.

As in all of our engagements, we analyzed the historical performance of Nahanni and gained a good understanding of the way it generates revenues and profits. We considered the state of the market for its products and the nature of competing manufacturers in the region.  

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We created a five year financial model for the business going forward to analyze the effects of various capital structures and revenue scenarios. Because Nahanni was profitable and growing quickly, it needed working capital flexibility and this had to be considered in the context of a purchase related capital structure. We determined the best financing approach was to maximize subordinated debt in addition to the proposed vendor take back note, and the equity amount that Gary would invest. In addition, the company’s existing bank line would have to be increased in order to allow for the growth projected for the coming year.

Nahanni’s good financial history and strong cash flow indicated that the opportunity was a good fit with subordinated debt lenders and after reviewing several term sheets, Gary chose Roynat to provide the necessary funding. The Company’s current lender indicated their willingness to provide an increased working capital facility and, working towards a deadline in mid October, we helped Garry complete all of the remaining due diligence and paperwork needed to finalize the deal.

If we could describe a preferred file at Stirling Mercantile, it would look a lot like the Nahanni transaction, a great company with a strong brand name and reputation in a growing market, good cash flow and debt servicing capacity, a knowledgeable vendor willing to stay on to transfer the goodwill and a vigorous and motivated buyer. We look forward to a long association with Nahanni and Gary George and watching the company grow and prosper.

Stirling Mercantile Corporation acted as exclusive advisor to the Company and sourced the financing.

Stirling Client Digital Payment Technologies Closes $4.4 Million

July 2006- We are pleased to announce the closing of a $4.4 million financing conducted for Digital Payment Technologies Inc.  DPT is a leading manufacturer of off-street and on-street digital parking meters, based in Burnaby, B.C.  Our involvement began when the Company’s CEO determined that a very large order for their new on-street meters was coming their way. The trouble was that this order would put a significant strain on the Company’s working capital, one that their existing bank would not support.

The CEO of the Company called Stirling partner Peter Scott, who he had known for over 15 years to see what could be done. We analyzed the Company’s financial situation and capital structure and created a financial model to consider the effects of the large order on the Company’s income and its working capital.

Once it had determined that a standard bank facility was not going to be possible, we considered a number of alternatives bearing in mind the cost of capital, the ownership structure, the dilutive effects of a financing and the availability of both senior and subordinated capital.

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An appropriate selling document was prepared and we approached a targeted group of financial institutions which we knew would be interested in the type of financing which we proposed. Following a number of information meetings and deal structure discussions, it quickly became apparent that a subordinated debt plus equity “kicker” deal proposed by MMV Financial in Toronto would be the best fit with the Company’s requirements.  In the end, four separate financial transactions had to be managed and closed: the MMV financing, a new trade finance arrangement with the Royal Bank of Canada, a purchase order financing insurance package from the EDC and an additional investment from some of the Company’s existing shareholders. 

Stirling Mercantile Corporation acted as exclusive advisor to the Company and sourced the financing.

Shore speaks at TELUS New Ventures BC Competition

July 2006- David Shore provided a 2.5 hour presentation on preparing financials for business plans in early stage companies. The presentation, except for confidential examples provided by the audience, is available by clicking the icon to the right.

Established by SFU Business, the annual TELUS New Ventures BC competition is operated by the non-profit BC Venture Society and made possible through the generous support of both private and public sponsors as well as more than 150 volunteer mentors judges, speakers and workshop leaders.

Click for PDF presentation

Stirling assists Chromos with Fairness Opinion

January 2006- Stirling Mercantile prepared and presented a Fairness Opinion to the Chromos Board of Directors regarding the purchase of Targeted Molecules Corporation and a concurrent $6 million Private Placement. 

The transaction added a significant new anti-inflammatory drug candidate to Chromos' portfolio of drugs under investigation as well as provided financing for the Company's ongoing development of its proprietary cell line manufacturing system.

Stirling continues to act as corporate finance advisors for the company.

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Stirling raises $6 million for WoodEx Forest Products Inc.

October 2005 - Stirling Mercantile is delighted to announce the closing of a financing to assist a team of experienced forestry products managers in buying the first of a series of sawmills which will be refurbished for Asian products and markets. 

Supported by well-known and successful forestry products executives, this new company will aggressively grow to become a major player in the emerging Asian lumber business. SMC looks forward to a long association with this excellent group of operators.

Stirling sourced the financiers and acted as exclusive advisors for this transaction.

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Stirling raises $2 million for Eaton Power Corporation

October 2005 - In addition to selling the plant to ENMAX Corporation of Calgary, Stirling raised a further $2 million in capital to assist Eaton in developing three more of its most attractive mini hydro development opportunities.

Stirling sourced the financing and acted as exclusive advisors for this transaction.

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Stirling sells power subsidiary for $19,000,000

April 2005 - Stirling Mercantile assisted Eaton Power in selling its recently completed Furry Creek Power plant. 

This 10 MW run of the river hydro facility is a perfect example of an environmentally sound mini hydro facility and the company had the luxury of selecting the most attractive bid from several offered by some of the best known names in power generation. 

Stirling sourced the buyer and acted as exclusive advisors for this transaction.

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Stirling client Celeres Systems Inc. closes seed round

February 2005 - Celeres Systems Inc. has closed a seed round financing with the BC Advantage Fund. This represents the first institutional financing for Celeres and the first financing provided by the BC Advantage Fund's Venture Fund.

Celeres Systems offers production and revenue accounting solutions and services that help large oil and gas companies account for their production allocation and royalties with unsurpassed detail, accuracy, and speed.  This company's flagship product is PAGO, a production and revenue accounting software solution which manages production and revenue accounting for oil and gas industry participants.

Stirling assisted the company with business plan preparation for this venture funding, sourced the financiers and acted as exclusive advisors for this transaction.

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Stirling  raises equity for Chromos Molecular Systems

January 2005 - Chromos Molecular Systems hired Stirling to lead a syndicated venture capital  financing. Stirling sourced the financing from private investors.

Chromos has developed an enabling technology for cell line engineering. The company's ACE System helps biotech and pharmaceutical companies develop cell lines for manufacturing much more quickly and increases  expression levels and stability in the production of their drugs. 

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Stirling raises $3.4 million of debt and equity for Uniserve Communications Corporation

November 2004 - Uniserve Communications Corporation closed a $3.4 million financing that was comprised of $2.25 million of equity and $1.15 million of debentures with warrants.  

Uniserve Communications Corporation is a Western Canadian based provider of internet and web-based services to consumers and businesses across Canada.  The company has grown through a series of acquisitions, that rolled up many small to medium-sized ISPs over the past several years. 

Stirling assisted Uniserve in raising this financing that allowed Uniserve to restructure their balance sheet by paying out all of their bank loans, a major supplier term loan, and several vendor take-back notes from previous acquisitions, with a total reduction in obligations of approximately $1 million . A group of private investors, led by Michael Scholz, financed the transaction. 

The Sedar press release for this transaction can be found here.

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Stirling client GaleForce Solutions closes Series A round
June 2004 - GaleForce Solutions Inc. closed their first round equity financing with participation from the oldest VC in town, Ventures West and the newest VC in Vancouver, Yaletown Venture Partners.

GaleForce has CRM solutions tailored for financial institutions. While the management team had extensive experience in building successful companies and are well known to the investment community (GaleForce founder Kirk Herrington was a former partner at Simba with Yaletown VC Mike Satterfield) GaleForce recognized the value in retaining experienced intermediaries for deal structuring and negotiations.

We were very proud to assist GaleForce with this important milestone to their growth. Their press release for this transaction can be found here.

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Stirling moves offices
March 2004 - Stirling Mercantile Corporation has moved one block to Commerce Place, at the intersection of Burrard Street and both Hastings and Pender Streets. The move provides the partners with a custom built location complete with larger facilities, more office space and a large patio facing Burrard inlet and the north shore mountains.

See our updated contact information on the "Contact Us" page.

Stirling Mercantile Corporation and Galvin Corporate Finance merge forces
February 2004 - Stirling Mercantile has bolstered its early-stage technology financing capabilities with the merger of Galvin Corporate Finance, which focuses on that sector. David Shore, formerly president of Galvin has joined Stirling as partner.