CAI Adds Former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs As Senior Adviser
By Eric Baum
11/25/2008 - CAI Capital Management Co. has added David Emerson, a former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, as a senior adviser.
In his new role, Emerson will help CAI find investment opportunities mainly in Western Canada. He will also advise existing portfolio companies.
Emerson held various senior positions in Canadian government, such as minister of industry and minister of international trade, prior to his appointment as minister of foreign affairs in 2008. He was also deputy minister for finance, deputy minister to the premier and president of the British Columbia Trade Development Corp. in the province of British Columbia.
Emerson also has experience in business, having served as president and chief executive of Canfor Corp., a Vancouver-based producer of forest products, the first president and chief executive of the Vancouver International Airport Authority and chairman and chief executive of Canadian Western Bank.
Emerson has also been a longstanding investor in CAI, said Tracey McVicar, a managing director of CAI, who declined to elaborate on the timing and amount of his investments.
CAI has launched three private equity funds since 1990, including CAI Capital Partners & Co. II LP, which raised C$375 million in 2004, with the majority of its backing coming from Canadian investors. The firm has been raising a new fund that has a C$600 million target since 2007, and is aiming to attract more international investors. Fund-raising is expected to last into late 2009, according to a source with knowledge of the firm's activities.
Reach CAI Capital Management at 416-306-9810.