Topic: How To Invest

Q: Hello, Pat: I would appreciate your recommendation with respect to Clairvest Group Inc. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

A: Clairvest Group, $57.60, symbol CVG on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 15.1 million; Market cap: $885.0 million; www.clairvest.com), is a Toronto-based merchant bank that invests in both public and private corporations. It also provides investment advice. The company invests its own funds and those of third parties through various Clairvest Equity Partnerships. Clairvest earns income from investments and management fees. Joseph Rotman founded Clairvest Group in 1987. At the time, the company was known as Roy-L Merchant Group. It became the Clairvest Group in 1991. The company’s board of directors includes Isadore Sharp, founder of Four Seasons Hotels, Michael Bregman, founder of the Second Cup coffee chain, and Joseph Heffernan, former chairman of Rothmans. The company invests in businesses with a broad customer base, recurring revenue, and cost-cutting potential. It also looks for companies in fragmented but growing industries. Throughout its history, the company has invested in a number of firms, including publicly traded companies like Datamark Systems Group (which manages business documents), Gateway Casinos…