Sydney investment firm Quadrant Private Equity is now a Canva shareholder after acquiring a hefty $500 million slice of the design giant, including more than $100 million worth of shares from VC fund Blackbird.
That represents about 1.2% of the company’s stock. The deal comes after $2.4 billion worth of Canva shares changed hands earlier this year amid $3.6 billion in demand, as tech company prepares to list publicly in 2026. The acquisition was made at Canva’s current US$25 billion (A$39bn) valuation – a figure local VCs arrived at in mid-2022.
It’s a record single investment for Quadrant, which previously specialised in buy outs, having previously spent $410 million in May 2015 to acquire Queensland’s VIP Pet Foods. The business was rebranded as The Real Pet Food Company, and sold 2.5 years later for $1 billion, having growth its revenue by around 67% in that time.
Other Quadrant deals include the Fitness First gym chain, media monitoring business iSentia, boiling water brand Zip, furniture retailer Super A-Mart and Barbeques Galore, and cancer care provider Icon Group, which was sold for $1 billion.
Quadrant does have a track record in startups, including the online retailer Adore Beauty, founded by Kate Morris, and Kristy Chong’s Modibodi, which the private equity firm took a stake in in 2019 and was acquired by a Swedish company in 2022 for $140 million. They also owned and sold the Canberra Data Centres in 2016 for $800 million.
Read more:Startup Daily
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