When deciding who we want to partner with, our first priority is management. We look for experienced teams who already have a proven track record or assurances that the right team can be put in place. We seek out thought leaders and innovators who share our commitment to being best in class at what they do and how they do it. These are the people we choose to partner with and experience has taught us that the right partnerships are the key to success.

We expect our partners to have a sound business plan and will only work with individuals who are ethical and wholly dedicated to growth. We are highly selective about our partnerships and seek out teams who can grow and succeed with us. We put board governance in place for our investments and use that as a vehicle to retain appropriate business expertise to support our investments. Here are some of the partnerships that have already yielded impressive results.

Current Investments

Vytal Filtration Technologies

What we saw

We recognized an opportunity to partner with an experienced and capable CEO/entrepreneur to take a meaningful position in the rapidly evolving landscape of industrial filtration – a critical aspect of various industrial and commercial processes. Acknowledging the increasing demand for environmental sustainability and the public’s growing awareness of their health choices we set out to create a leading North American industrial filtration business. The industry features an enduring demand profile, fragmented distribution, a wide diversity of end markets and only a handful of large manufacturers.

Execution

By partnering with experienced and capable entrepreneurs Vytal could quickly build a team with over 100 years of combined experience in the sector that shares our values. Through the contributions of this team, we were able to accelerate our growth and realize our collective vision to build a pan-North American industrial filtration company that was both customer centric and highly technically competent. In our first 18 months, we acquired a complimentary mix of distributors and fabricators while building our corporate platform from scratch. Vytal Filtration Technologies has a mission to help its customers maximize efficiency and uptime by delivering the best industry solutions for industrial filtration. Led by CEO Brian Jones, Vytal Filtration Technologies is a company that is passionate about keeping the world healthy, productive, and clean by filtering processes in industrial applications. Vytal understands that filters intersect with every aspect of life, from clean drinking water to the smooth operation of machinery in various industries. Through acquiring and working with entrepreneurs in the segment, Vytal partners with people who share its vision of creating a better world through innovative solutions and enduring relationships.

NOI Growth

The company has exciting growth prospects, a wide diversification of end markets and a robust acquisition pipeline.

What we saw

A sophisticated and experienced real estate developer with a unique concept to lease up vacant light industrial assets in a distressed environment. We recognized they were an operating partner who had identified and delivered proof of concept on a higher and better use for the assets.

Execution

Together, we developed a strategy to acquire a portfolio of assets and build a light industrial co-working brand in the Netherlands.

NOI Growth

Although it is still early, we are optimistic of attractive returns.

What we saw

A company with a best-in-class product and facility, a culture that we could relate to, a retiring owner and management that needed help to bring the company to the next level.

Execution

We partnered with an expert in the food industry who took the reigns of the company as its new president. The company is now actively growing its global distribution through wholesale and retail channels.

NOI Growth

Company has achieved profitability and is on track for significant y/y revenue growth.

What we saw

An exciting opportunity to expand our hotel footprint in the mountains and buy an attractive asset below replacement cost in a growing tourism market underpinned by the metallurgical coal industry.

Execution

We made minor improvements to the property, as the bet was largely on a recovery in the market.

NOI Growth

NOI growth of about 30% in just 3 years.

What we saw

An opportunity to partner with a best-in-class multi-family real estate developer and invest in an area where we thought the future was brighter than the past. We recognized that assets were significantly mismanaged and not reaching their full potential.

Execution

Together we created a strategy and capital plan that would see a capex strategy equal to 50% of the purchase price, turning the worst apartment communities in their area into best in area.

NOI Growth

Properties are already on track to realize 300% NOI growth over the redevelopment period.

What we saw

The opportunity to partner with a sophisticated travel and tourism operator, and acquire undermanaged hotel assets in Canmore – a market that had yet to recover from the financial crisis.

Execution

We re-flagged the property to a Coast branded hotel and re-invested 50% of the purchase price into hotel improvements.

NOI Growth

NOI Growth approaching 300% in 4 years.

Projects

Internally driven projects without partner involvement.

Saskatchewan Farmland

What we saw

An asset class that had been restricted to investors outside of Saskatchewan for decades, which had kept prices depressed. Combined with improving fundamentals driven by rising demand for protein in China and ethanol, the stage was set for a bull market in agriculture. We also liked that we could get a 6% coupon while we waited for the story to unfold.

Execution

HCI became a leader in the farmland investment space, with a portfolio of high-quality land that peaked at 150,000 cultivated acres. We also started farming some of the land for our own account, which has significantly deepened our understanding of agriculture.

NOI Growth

Out farmland portfolio generated an IRR of 30%+ over the period of 2004-2014.

What we saw

The potential of a 177,000 SF building in downtown Edmonton that in 2005 was 1/3 vacant and had sub $10 rents. We knew that if Alberta was to reach its full potential as an energy producer, the Edmonton office market should do well.

Execution

We quickly saw the building fully leased to a single tenant for a ~ 7 years at rents approx. 3x higher than when we bought it. When the tenant outgrew the space, in 2014, the building went vacant. HCI fully redeveloped the building, rebranded it to 9Triple8 Jasper, leased it up and successfully sold in 2017.

NOI Growth

The building was sold for approximately 3x what we paid for it.