Private Debt Partners Appoints Six New Members to Advisory Board

TORONTO and MONTREAL, Jan. 27, 2021 /CNW/ - Private Debt Partners ("PDP" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the nominations of Mr. Mario Charpentier, Mr. Daniel Gallivan, Mr. Paul Hill, Mr. Richard Kanemy, Ms. Kristi Miller and Dr. Par Nijhawan, to its Advisory Board. The newly appointed Advisory Board members bring diverse finance, banking, legal, operational, governance and leadership experience that will complement and enhance PDP's core competencies as the Company deploys its Senior Direct Lending Fund and its Senior Opportunities Fund, which are focused on lending capital to high-quality Canadian mid-market businesses.

"On behalf of the Board of Directors and PDP's management, I would like to welcome Mr. Charpentier, Mr. Gallivan, Mr. Hill, Mr. Kanemy, Ms. Miller and Mr. Nijhawan," said Greg Dimmer, Managing Partner of PDP. "Our new Advisory Board members are exceptional individuals and recognized leaders from across Canada who bring a breadth of experience and national network coverage that will enhance PDP's focus on being the leading lender in Canadian mid-market private debt.  We are excited to work with our Advisors to penetrate our target regional markets and offer customized term financing solutions to well-run Canadian private companies."

Mr. Mario Charpentier is the Founding Partner and Co-Head of the Corporate Finance Sector of BCF LLP, a leading mid-market Quebec-based law firm. Mr. Charpentier has extensive leadership experience serving as Managing Partner of BCF for 25 years, from foundation in 1995 until November 2019. As a tax practitioner, he advises clients from every industry on the legal and business strategies to adopt to best grow their business. His involvement in the start-up community has led him to Co-Head BCF Imagine, a program for innovative entrepreneurs starting their business and to sit as Chairman of BCF Ventures' Board, a seed investment fund for high-growth technology companies. Under his management, BCF has introduced a variety of pro bono initiatives and implemented diversity and inclusion programs aimed at promoting women, cultural, and gender minorities to positions of leadership and governance throughout the organization and the larger business community. Mario has been named Notable Practitioner in Corporate and Commercial Law by Chambers and Partners Québec ranking and in 2020 he was selected to the Best Lawyers Directory in M&A Law.

Mr. Daniel Gallivan is General Counsel and Chair of Cox & Palmer's Regional Board, focused on transactional, corporate, commercial, energy, financing, securities, and public law. Mr. Gallivan carries over 40 years of legal experience and was most notably appointed to the Queen's Counsel in 1997. Throughout his distinguished career Mr. Gallivan has served on several Boards including: Via Rail, Bank of Canada, BrightPath Early Learning Inc., Nova Scotia Securities Commission, Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments, Halifax Industrial Commission, Greater Halifax Partnership, and High Liner Foods Incorporated. In 2019, Mr. Gallivan was recognized as one of Canada's Leading Energy Lawyers by Lexpert, and since 2006 has been consistently named to The Best Lawyers in Canada publication for his practice in the areas of Corporate Law, Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law, Securities Law, M&A Law and Corporate Governance Practice.

Mr. Paul Hill is the Chairman, President and CEO of The Hill Companies and is the third generation in the Hill family to lead the organization, which operates in the areas of real estate, insurance, media, oil and gas, and manufacturing. He has chaired or served on numerous public and private boards and is actively involved in public policy through his board participation with The CD Howe Institute, The Fraser Institute, and the Business Council of Canada. Mr. Hill also serves on the advisory board of the Georgetown University Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business, The Woodrow Wilson Institute, the Richard Ivey School of Business and the University of Regina Paul J. Hill School of Business. In 2011 and 2012, Paul was awarded with honorary Doctor of Law degrees from the University of Regina and the University of Western Ontario. Mr. Hill is also a recipient of the Canada 125 Medal, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal, and was named to the Order of Canada in 2015.

Mr. Richard Kanemy has over 30 years of experience dealing with Canadian mid-market companies and entrepreneurs. During his distinguished career at Scotiabank, he led Roynat Capital's Ontario team from 2000 to 2010, Canadian Operations from 2010 to 2015 and Scotiabank's Central Canada      Commercial Banking team from 2015 to 2020. As SVP and Head of Roynat's Canadian Operations he was a member of Roynat's Executive and Investment Committee.

Ms. Kristi Miller has been providing mid-market businesses with relationship-focused, strategic financing and advice for more than twenty years. As Founder and former National Managing Director of First West Capital, Ms. Miller grew the business from start-up to a national junior capital firm that funded over $250 million to more than 100 businesses.  She was recognized by EY as the Pacific Region's 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year in the category of Business Disrupter for this work. Ms. Miller serves on a number of corporate and non-profit boards and is a recipient of the Canadian Venture Capital Association's Ted Anderson Community Leadership Award.  In a return to her entrepreneurial roots, Ms. Miller recently joined NPC Ventures, a new fund targeting companies at the early stages of commercialization in the natural products and agri-tech sector, as Managing Partner.

Dr. Par Nijhawan is a seasoned physician and entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in cross-functional roles including finance, marketing and business and drug development. Dr. Nijhawan is the Founder and CEO of Edesa Biotech. In addition, he is the Founder and Chairman of Exzell Pharma, ranked as Canada's fastest growing company in 2019.  Dr. Nijhawan was Founder and CEO of Medical Futures Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company which he successfully sold to a public company in 2015.  He also established Digestive Health Clinic, Canada's largest provider of private endoscopy services. Dr. Nijhawan was inducted into the CHLA BD Hall of fame in 2018 and Awarded Business Development Deal of the Year 2017. Dr. Nijhawan received his MD (University of Ottawa), Internship (Yale), Residency IM (Mayo), Fellowship GI (Mayo).

"The ability to attract Advisory Board members of this caliber speaks to the compelling nature of PDP's offering, our commitment to a best-in-class approach to our business and having a defined reach into all major regional markets in Canada. Each of our new Advisory Board members brings valuable skills, experience, and networks that will enable us to see high-quality investment opportunities while gaining a heightened insight into regional trends." added J.C. Greck, Managing Partner of PDP. 

About Private Debt Partners:
Private Debt Partners is a Canadian alternative asset manager that partners with institutional investors to generate yield and portfolio diversification through private debt strategies. Private Debt Partners originates and structures senior loans to mid-market companies with strong market positions, management teams and financial performance. Investors benefit from PDP's deep sector expertise, the team's track record of success and its focus on underserved sectors of the private debt market. This quality approach to lending enables PDP to deliver higher risk-adjusted returns and true portfolio diversification. It is headquartered in Toronto and has an office in Montreal.  Please visit www.privatedebt.com for more information.

SOURCE Private Debt Partners

Jeffrey Deacon, Co-Founder, Head of Origination, and Managing Partner, Tel: [phone], Email: [email protected]