Krystle Chow’s Online Portfolio

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
Dec. 31, 2007 (Jan. 2, 2008 on OttawaBusinessJournal.com)

Click here to view this article on OttawaBusinessJournal.com.

PlascoEnergy CEO Rod Bryden.
Photo by DARREN BROWN for the Ottawa Business Journal

While there’s an oft-stated fear that venture capital is dwindling in Ottawa and across the province, it seemed this year that local companies were able to find plenty of financing alternatives if they looked hard enough.

Ottawa companies have raised more than $1 billion through investment other than venture capital deals (see sidebar) this year alone, whether through private placements, venture debt deals, public offerings or grants, and it looks like this could become a bigger trend with lower levels of venture capital and as the startups that survived the tech crash mature.

One financing method that popped up in several local transactions this year was the venture debt deal, along with other types of loans. These venture debt financing rounds are much easier and cheaper to work with than equity financing rounds and help young companies avoid equity dilution, while giving them more time to raise other kinds of capital.

“As companies are getting a bit (more…)

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
Dec. 31, 2007 (Jan. 2, 2008 on OttawaBusinessJournal.com)

Click here to view this article on OttawaBusinessJournal.com.

When Mitel management realized that U.S. rival Inter-Tel could be in play, there was a sense of urgency to jump on the opportunity, says CEO Don Smith. That decision indefinitely postponed an IPO the market had been expecting for a couple of years.
Photo by DARREN BROWN for the Ottawa Business Journal

The deal: Mitel Networks Corp. announced on April 26 that it was offering about US$723 million, or $25.60 per share, to buy Arizona’s Inter-Tel Inc. The deal, which closed in August, is expected to boost Mitel’s revenues to more than $800 million and give it the number-one spot in the U.S. small- and medium-sized market for business communications systems. Inter-Tel had annual revenues of $458.4 million in 2006.

The players: Mitel CEO Don Smith; Steve Spooner, Mitel’s CFO and chief integration officer; Alexander Cappello, chairman of Inter-Tel’s board of directors; Steven Mihaylo, Inter-Tel’s founder and ousted chief executive; private equity company Vector Capital Corp.; Mitel’s financing partners Francisco Partners and Morgan Stanley Principal Investments; Genuity Capital Markets (Mitel’s financial adviser); UBS Investment Bank (Inter-Tel’s financial adviser)

How the deal was done: In 2006, Mitel had been preparing to go public with an offering (more…)

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
Dec. 14, 2007 (Dec. 17 in the print edition)

Click here to view this article on OttawaBusinessJournal.com.

Ed Ogonek, CEO of Bridgewater Systems.
Photo by DARREN BROWN for the Ottawa Business Journal

Bridgewater Systems may have had to lower targets for its initial public offering, but CEO Ed Ogonek says the company’s successful closing of the IPO was a feat in itself in these challenging times.

The Ottawa-based company, which makes software to manage voice-over-Internet-protocol subscriber traffic, debuted on the Toronto Stock Exchange this morning after having raised $35 million in its IPO through the sale of 6.36 million shares at $5.50 each.

The stock finished its first trading day down about 5.5 per cent, or 30 cents, to $5.10.

Of the IPO amount, $20 million came from a treasury offering and $15 million from the sale of shares by existing shareholders.

“This is an opportunity to now accelerate our growth plan going forward, with investment into global infrastructure to extend our sales and marketing reach, our solution capabilities with a broader product portfolio, and extend our high-value professional services capabilities,” Mr. Ogonek said in an interview with the OBJ.

Mr. Ogonek confirmed that the amount raised in the IPO was lower than the company had initially hoped for, with a Dow Jones report late last week saying (more…)

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
Dec. 10, 2007 (Dec. 12 on OttawaBusinessJournal.com)

Click here to view this article on OttawaBusinessJournal.com.

Photo by DARREN BROWN for the Ottawa Business Journal

Picture this: you’re walking down the street when your cellphone beeps. It’s a message alerting you that tickets to that sought-after hockey game are now available. You go online, purchase the tickets instantly without waiting in line and voila! You’re on your way.

That immediate jump to action is what marketing departments are hoping for with this pervasive and interactive new method of reaching out to customers, especially with the tech-savvy 18-to-24 age group.

Forget e-mail marketing if you’re looking to court today’s generation, says Isabelle Perrault, director of marketing for the Ottawa Senators – the way of the future lies with mobile marketing.

“Print or TV are pretty static media, but as soon as you add mobile, it’s very interactive. It engages people, it’s relatively easy, and it’s immediate,” Ms. Perrault says.

The Ottawa Senators started using wireless marketing before the 2006-07 NHL playoffs, first registering a vanity short code to which wireless users would send a text message in order to opt into the Senators’ database.

After the playoffs, Ms. Perrault says, the hockey team’s wireless service got 800 subscribers simply from (more…)