Alignvest to raise $184 million via IPO on Toronto Exchange

Alignvest Acquisition Corp, an investment company set up primarily to buy an operating asset, said on Wednesday it is raising almost double the money it set out to generate via an initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Toronto-based company said it plans to sell 22.5 million units at C$10 a unit and raise C$225 million ($184 million). It had initially set out to raise C$125 million by selling 12.5 million units at C$10 apiece.
Alignvest, headed by serial entrepreneur and private equity industry veteran Reza Satchu, is backed by Canadian business figures that include Nadir Mohamed, former head of Rogers Communications; Donald Walker, chief executive of autoparts maker Magna International, and Bonnie Brooks, vice chair of retailer Hudson's Bay. The company does not plan to limit its acquisition hunt to any particular sector. It does, however, intend to focus its search on businesses that operate in North America and specifically ones with ties to Canada.