Four months after going public on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) and acquiring an online subscription service company, Toronto-based Emerge Commerce, which owns and operates e-commerce brands, has closed approximately $11.9 million in the first tranche of a private placement.
Emerge Commerce said the proceeds from the private placement will be used for potential acquisitions, working capital and general corporate purposes.
The tranche was part brokered and part non-brokered. The brokered portion of the private placement was led by Canaccord Genuity Corp and Gravitas Securities as bookrunners, and Raymond James Ltd as a co-lead agent, in addition to Stifel Nicolaus Canada. A total of 8.4 million special warrants in Emerge Commerce were sold at a price of $1.40 per special warrant. Each special warrant is exercisable for one common share in the capital of Emerge Commerce.
Emerge Commerce said the proceeds from the private placement will be used for potential acquisitions, working capital, and general corporate purposes.
Emerge describes itself as an acquirer and operator of niche e-commerce brands. Founded in 2015 by CEO Ghassan Halazon, the company operates in a wide array of e-commerce categories, including groceries, golf, and travel, among others.
RELATED: Vancouver e-commerce brand KITS Eyecare closes $55 million IPO, begins trading on TSX
The company, formerly called Transformational Capital, now operates WagJag, UnderPar, and truLOCAL, in addition to other e-commerce brands. The company initially revealed plans to go public in May 2020 and completed a reverse takeover of Aumento in December. It trades under the symbol ‘ECOM’ on the TSXV. As of Thursday afternoon, Emerge’s stock trades at $1.26 CAD.
In January, Emerge Commerce revealed it had acquired Kitchener-Waterloo-based food tech startup truLOCAL for up to $16.8 million, funded through a $3 million debt facility from Cortland Credit Group. truLOCAL offers direct-to-consumer monthly locally-sourced meat product plans through an online subscription service that ships overnight to consumers. The deal represented Emerge Commerce’s fifth acquisition as well as its largest to date.
Image source Emerge Commerce.
