MMV Financial Completes Initial Capitalization Financing

On September 21, 2004, MMV Financial Inc. announced that it had completed an initial financing round. MMV is a Toronto-based specialty finance company that provides debt financing to technology and life sciences companies in the emerging and mid-market sectors. MMV’s opening capitalization will launch the company’s $300 million investment program.

The equity component of the financing was led by Conning Capital Partners, a Hartford, Connecticut-based private equity firm. The balance of the equity was provided by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and the company’s founders. Wells Fargo Foothill, Inc. of Los Angeles provided senior debt.

MMV was represented by Aird & Berlis, with a team led by Tony Gioia that included Martin Kovnats and Dennis Miller (corporate), Andy Ayotte (banking) and Barbara Worndl (tax).
Conning Capital Partners was represented in Canada by the Goodmans Venture Group of Goodmans, with a team led by Rick Nathan that included Michael Partridge and Victor Liu (corporate) and Carrie Smit (tax); and in the US by Goodwin Procter, with a team led by James Curley that included Jeffrey Hadden and Jon Herzog (corporate) and William Whitledge (tax).

The Caisse was represented by in-house counsel Julie Tremblay, together with André Goyer (business) and David Ma (technology) of McCarthy Tétrault.

Wells Fargo Foothill was represented in the US by Gary Zussman and Mike Ebner (commercial finance) and Alice Owings (corporate) of Goldberg Kohn, and in Canada by Chris Hewat (securities), Daryl Clark and Ian Binnie (banking) and Kathleen Penny (tax) of Blake, Cassels & Graydon.