Toronto, December 4, 2008 – VG Partners, a premier Canadian private equity investment firm, today announced a $2 million follow-on investment in Great Lakes Fish Corporation (“Great Lakes”).
The investment enables Great Lakes to complete its acquisition of Kingsville Fishermen’s Company (“Kingsville”) and advance Great Lakes’ growth strategy to become a dominant freshwater fish processor.
With the acquisition of Kingsville, Great Lakes now employees over 200 people, is the single largest owner of Lake Erie fish quota and is one of the world’s largest processors of freshwater fish.
VG Partners completed an initial $6 million investment in Great Lakes in January 2008.
“This follow-on investment supports Great Lakes’ strategy to consolidate fish processors in the Lake Erie region,” said John Neate, Director at VG Partners. “With the additional processing capacity from Kingsville, Great Lakes can continue to build on its reputation for providing top tier service to its growing client base.”
"Kingsville Fishermen's Company has a rich history of harvesting and processing freshwater fish for domestic and international customers," said John Taylor, Great Lakes Fish President and CEO. "We are extremely proud of the acquisition and appreciative of the great team who built Kingsville into one of the leading processors in Lake Erie."
The investment was completed by VG Partners MezzGrowth Group. The Funds that participated in the financing were The VenGrowth Traditional Industries Fund Inc., The VenGrowth III Investment Fund Inc. and VG Mezzanine I Limited Partnership.
About VG Partners
A premier Canadian private equity investment group, VG Partners builds innovative companies into global successes. Since 1982, we have invested over $1.3 billion in almost 200 North American companies, working alongside business owners to maximize potential. Our investment team provides a breadth of industry experience within technology, life sciences, industrial and consumer sectors, as well as a hands-on approach that is unparalleled. VG Partners is part of VenGrowth Private Equity Partners Inc. For more, visit www.vgpartners.com
Media Inquiries:
Angus Fisher
Director, Communications & Media
VenGrowth Asset Management Inc.
416.628.9255
afisher@vengrowth.com
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