Montreal-based Thinking Capital, which provides capital to small businesses, has been acquired by Purpose Financial.
According to sources speaking to The Globe and Mail, the company was bought for over $200 million.
Thinking Capital will retain its headquarters in Montreal and all employees will remain with the company.
Thinking Capital provides loans to small businesses ranging from $5,000 to $300,000, and has partnered with enterprises like Staples and Everlink to expand the reach of its lending services.
Purpose Financial’s businesses include Purpose Investments, Purpose Advisor Solutions, and Purpose Innovation Labs. The goal of the acquisition is to combine Purpose Financial’s asset management and Thinking Capital’s solution to create new investment products.
“Purpose Financial has an unrelenting focus on building innovative, technology-driven financial solutions,” said Som Seif, CEO of Purpose Financial. “Thinking Capital is a clear leader in the small to medium-sized business lending space, with credit adjudication technology and presence that are unmatched in the Canadian market. This acquisition brings together leading origination, asset management, and technology platforms as a unified entity, and enables us to bolster our product capabilities and optimize the technology, distribution, and funding model of our combined business.”
Thinking Capital will retain its headquarters in Montreal and all employees will remain with the company. Mitelman will become a managing partner of Purpose Financial, and the company says he will retain a meaningful equity position in Purpose Financial alongside existing investor TorQuest and Thinking Capital’s management.
“While 98 percent of businesses in Canada are small businesses, many have limited access to capital to fund their growth. As an early innovator in this market, we have spent the last decade evolving the language of small businesses credit,” said Jeff Mitelman, CEO and co-founder of Thinking Capital. “Under the Purpose Financial umbrella our time to market on product innovation and funding capacity will be greatly amplified. We look forward to the new possibilities our union will bring to the small business community.”