Trucks line up to unload soybeans which are then transferred by conveyers to a cargo ship at the Parrish & Heimbecker grain terminal in the port of Hamilton with U.S. Steel (formerly Stelco) in the rear, September 30, 2013.J.P. Moczulski/The Globe and Mail
Private equity group Madison Dearborn Partners is investing in a Canadian technology firm in a sector that is changing the way companies interact with their drivers and clients.
The Chicago-based investor group is financing Complete Innovations (CI), a provider of software and hardware for tracking shipments and vehicles in real time, monitoring driving patterns and generating reports. The Markham, Ont. company's technology is used in industries such as food and pharmaceuticals, oil and gas and construction and many others.
Madison Dearborn's investment in CI comes amid broad technological changes in transportation. The telematics industry, which is the use of wireless and digital technologies that send and receive information within a vehicle, is projected to reach global revenues of about $20-billion (U.S.) by 2018, according to a recent report from mobile and telecom analysis group Juniper Research.
CI's monitoring systems are designed to save money by helping its more than 4,000 clients better manage operating and fuel costs, maintenance issues, theft and insurance costs.
"With less than a third of companies with fleets, mobile assets and workers using technology like ours today, we see great potential that the remaining two-thirds will use this technology by the end of this decade," said Tony Lourakis, chief executive of CI, in a statement. He described the industry as "at an inflection point."
The terms of the investment weren't disclosed, but CI said the capital will be used to provide liquidity to current shareholders, especially Symmetric Capital, its most recent institutional investor. Symetric took a similar investment position in the company in 2009.
Madison Dearborn is no stranger to Canada. The investor group last made waves when it joined BCE, Ontario Teachers and Providence in acquiring Canadian internet company Q9 Networks for $1.1-billion in 2012.
The private equity group, which has as raised six funds with aggregate capital of over $18-billion in its 22 years in business, invests in a broad range of industries, including telecom, media and technology services.
In early 2012, Madison Dearborn bought tire product company Schrader, a former division of Onex and CPPIB-owned engineering company Tomkins, for $505-million (U.S.). Tomkins retained a minority equity interest in Schrader in that deal. Madison Dearborn recently sold Schrader again for $1-billion.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story said Madison Dearborn retained a stake in Tomkins. In fact, Tomkins retained a minority equity stake in Schrader.