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$375-M investment fund puts focus on Manitoba – Winnipeg Free Press – Winnipeg Free Press

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When Gary Coleman sought to sell his Manitoba-based logistics business, he searched outside the province.

The best opportunity came in the United States. He sold Big Freight Systems, which his family founded in Steinbach, to large American transportation company Daseke Inc.

That was roughly six years ago.



Gary Coleman, former owner of Big Freight Systems, leads TriWest Opportunities Fund Manitoba

Now, Coleman is overseeing a fund aiming to keep Manitoba-based companies’ ownership and capital funding in Western Canada.

The TriWest Opportunities Fund Manitoba, which contains up to $375 million for investment, launched this week.

“If this fund would’ve been available when I was selling, I would’ve been chatting with them,” Coleman said Friday. “I understand the opportunity here.”

Provincial government-funded entity Manitoba First Fund has committed $25 million to TriWest Opportunities.

The Manitoba First Fund doesn’t directly invest in the province’s businesses; instead, it partners on new funds to facilitate local capital. It’s meant to draw private-sector investment to the keystone province.

TriWest Capital Partners, a private equity firm covering Western Canada, has at least $350 million available for the new Manitoba-based fund.

Coleman is the fund’s senior director. He expects investment deals to happen in three ways: the fund will reach out and “plant seeds” with businesses contemplating selling; the fund’s operators will receive inbound calls; and the fund will work with local merger-and-acquisition experts.

The TriWest Opportunities Fund will invest in Manitoba-based companies with annual cash flows between $2.5 million and $50 million.

“It’s the Manitoba-centric, centrally focused, access to capital business model,” Coleman said.

The former Progressive Conservative government funnelled $100 million into the Manitoba First Fund in 2022 and 2023.

Since those announcements, it has created partnerships with two other private equity firms.

The two previously announced partnerships, which account for $40 million of Manitoba First Fund’s money, have not yet used Manitoba First funding on investment deals with local businesses.

“We’re hopeful there will be (deals) soon,” said Ken Ross, chief executive of Manitoba First Fund. “When it comes to investments, it always takes time… People on both sides of the table have to feel comfortable.”

The Manitoba First Fund announced its initial $25-million investment with WestCap Management Ltd., a Saskatchewan venture capital money manager, in March 2023. WestCap dedicated $60 million and four Manitoba credit unions supplied another $30 million.

Manitoba First Fund’s second announcement was in August 2023. It committed $15 million to a fund run by PFM Capital, another Saskatchewan-based operator. PFM Capital matched the $15-million investment.

Both funds target businesses with revenue already in the $10-million range.

There’s $35 million waiting for use in the Manitoba First Fund. Ross said he’s been rallying support for the “early capital” end of the investment spectrum.

TriWest Opportunities is the biggest venture, to date, the Manitoba First Fund has joined.

Ross expressed confidence in TriWest, which is based in Calgary.

“They are a very successful fund,” he said. “The nature of their fund (and) the nature of their approach to supporting investments that they do make goes far beyond just the capital.”

TriWest’s portfolio history includes Landmark Cinemas, which it divested from in 2017, and Monarch Industries, which it’s currently invested in. It’s raised more than $1.6 billion during its 26-year lifespan, its website touts.

TriWest is enthusiastic about Manitoba.

“This is one of the most entrepreneurial and dynamic markets in Canada for building companies across multiple industries,” TriWest Capital Partners senior managing director Mick MacBean said in a statement.

Manitoba’s centrality allows for business growth, he added.

The goal is to have funds available in Manitoba for all stages of business growth, Ross said. Profits the Manitoba First Fund receives from its investments will be funnelled back into the funds it’s connected to, he explained.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com

Gabrielle Piché

Gabrielle Piché
Reporter

Gabby is a big fan of people, writing and learning. She graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in the spring of 2020.

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Investment

Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

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NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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