| Industry: |
Inventory Services |
| Investment date: |
March 2003 |
| Acquired by: |
ONCAP I |
| Investment: |
C$30 million / C$9 million from Onex |
| Status: |
Realized |
| Final realization: |
January 2007 |
| Value realized: |
C$242 million / C$79 million by Onex |
| Gross IRR: |
74% |
| Head office: |
Toronto, Ontario |
The amounts above include Onex’ share of the carried interest and are net of any payments under the Management Investment Plan.
ONCAP I acquired Western Inventory Service Ltd., Canada’s largest inventory verification company. The company provided customized inventory counts, inventory consulting, information management and retail price verification to the retail and industrial sectors. In April 2005, with the assistance of ONCAP I, Western acquired Washington Inventory Service and combined the two companies to form WIS International. WIS International was the second-largest inventory service provider in the world, with 200 offices throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
In January 2007, ONCAP I sold 100% of its stake in WIS International to a financial buyer, and the investment generated total realized proceeds of C$242 million – which represents an 8x multiple of invested capital and 74% gross IRR.
More detail is available in our
case study.
WIS International – Case Study
Building a global leader in an attractive niche
ONCAP and management acquired Western Inventory Service Ltd. in March 2003. The company provided customized inventory counts, inventory consulting, information management and retail price verification to the retail and industrial sectors. Western was Canada’s largest inventory verification company and operated through a network of offices across Canada. It had also recently begun to offer services in the eastern United States.
In April 2005, with the assistance of ONCAP, Western acquired Washington Inventory Service. Washington was one of two national providers of inventory verification services to retailers in the United States. In addition, Washington provided inventory verification services in Mexico, South America, Europe and Asia and retail merchandising services to major consumer product manufacturers in the U.S. The combination of the two companies created WIS International, the second-largest inventory service provider in the world, with 200 offices throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.
In January 2007, ONCAP completed the sale of WIS International. In connection with the sale, ONCAP divested 100% of its stake in the business and realized a return of approximately 8x on its capital investment and an IRR of 74%.
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