Chase Capital Targets Canada with Harrowston –

New York-based Chase Capital Partners this month formed a strategic partnership with Toronto-based Harrowston Inc., a publicly traded private equity group, to invest in Canadian companies, said Mathew Lori, a principal at Chase Capital Partners.

According to Lori, Chase Capital and Harrowston each will commit $100 million to the joint venture, that will pursue all levels of private equity investments, including buyouts and recapitalizations, venture capital commitments and growth equity investments.

“We’re finding, as we are growing, that we’re trying to be proactive [in finding investments], and we’re seeing Canada as an underserved market,” Lori said. “There’s a lot of Canadian companies coming to the U.S. looking for private capital.”

The joint venture will focus on investing between $10 million and $50 million in equity per deal, although investments could range from a few million dollars to as much as $150 million, Lori said.

The venture mirrors other regional ventures that Chase Capital has set up in India, Italy, Spain and Ireland, in which Chase Capital teams with a local partner that has established contacts and brings to the table its financial expertise and more than $8 billion in capital under management.

According to Lori, Chase Capital in the last five years has invested jointly with Harrowston on two occasions. The company also has a long-standing relationship with Chase Capital’s parent bank Chase Manhattan Corp.