Salida Capital Launches Private Equity Fund; $100 million seed investment committed

Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Author: Press Release

Salida Capital Launches Private Equity Fund; $100 million seed investment committed
TORONTO, Apr. 14 /CNW/ - Salida Capital, one of Canada's leading private alternative investment
management firms, is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of its private equity fund. Focused in the
natural resources space, the fund’s official marketing period will begin in May and continue for a 6 to 8
month period, or until it has hit its targeted maximum capital commitment.
“We’re extremely excited about the opportunities we see for our private equity fund,” commented
Courtenay Wolfe, President & CEO of Salida Capital. “It’s an area we’ve been planning on venturing into
for awhile, and we are pleased to announce that we have already secured a $100 million seed investment
for the fund prior to its official launch.”
The anchor investment comes from Bill Gallacher, President and CEO of Avenir Capital Corporation, and
Chairman and founder of recently public Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation. “My relationship with Salida
goes back many years. I’m a huge supporter and friend of the firm and am optimistic about the future of
this relationship.”
While Salida remains focused on managing funds investing mainly in publicly listed securities, Wolfe
cites one key reason for launching a private equity fund as being the many opportunities the team is
seeing on the private side that cannot be held in their current funds. “We manage our funds within a
disciplined risk management framework that has predetermined limits on the percentage of privates that
can be held in a fund,” commented Ms. Wolfe. “Many of our investors have asked for a longer term time
horizon for investing, wishing to access some of the great private investment opportunities we are seeing
in the natural resources space.”
Known for being a leader over the past several years in capitalizing on investment opportunities in the
natural resources and precious metals arena, their strong nine year track record comes from taking an
opportunistic, active approach to investing. Salida had strong returns in 2009 by capitalizing on the
resurgence of investment opportunities within those sectors. The new private equity fund is poised to
further capitalize on the proven talent of Salida’s investment team.
With the foray into private equity comes a portfolio manager change for Salida’s current funds. Brad
White, portfolio manager and co-founder of Salida, will be joining Mr. Gallacher’s asset management
team. His transition to Avenir is something both groups have been working on for some time, and Ms.
Wolfe feels the opportunities Brad’s move will have for Salida are huge. “Brad’s been instrumental in
Salida’s success over the past nine years, however we view this transition as a great evolution for Salida.
We believe the strategic alliance we’ll have with Brad and Bill going forward will benefit the firm and
our investors.”
Mr. White is currently the portfolio manager of two funds, the Salida Multi Strategy Fund and the Global
Energy Fund. Both funds are being transitioned to two of Salida’s other portfolio managers. The Multi
Strategy Fund will be managed by Salida’s founder and CIO, Danny Guy. Mr. Guy managed the fund for the first two years of its track record, and he and Mr. White have a very collaborative and similar
investment style. Mr. Guy has continued to be the secondary manager on this fund since Mr. White took
over as lead portfolio manager back in late 2006.
The Global Energy Fund will be managed by Brian Trenholm. Mr. Trenholm currently manages the
Wealth Preservation Fund and has 17 years of industry experience, including four years as a sell-side
energy sector analyst in Calgary. Prior to joining Salida, Mr. Trenholm managed a resource-oriented
small cap fund for Maritime Life – under his management, the fund was one of Canada’s top performers
in 2003 with a return of more than 70%. Mr. Trenholm joined Salida in 2004 to manage the long/short
Global Resource Fund, which was focused on energy and mining investments. Mr. Trenholm is also the
author of Salida’s regular market commentaries, “World Markets Watch” and “The Energy Report”.
Ms. Wolfe says investors in these funds should be excited at the opportunity ahead: “Our current
investment team is a group of six seasoned individuals, including two portfolio managers in addition to
research and trading. We are soundly positioned to handle our current asset base and funds, with capacity
to grow well beyond our current size. We have also recently added John Graham to our investment team,
a research analyst who is focused in the mining sector, bringing over nine years of experience with him.”
Salida is also looking to add an oil & gas analyst to their investment team in the upcoming weeks.
Ms. Wolfe concluded by saying, “Overall we’re excited about the future of Salida and feel this is a great
opportunity for Brad as well as our firm. The benefits of this relationship will be tremendous.”
About Salida Capital
Founded in 2001, Salida Capital is one of Canada's leading private wealth management firms. Through
private funds and separately managed accounts, Salida Capital manages approximately $650 million for a
growing global client base of family offices, high net worth individuals, institutions and fund of funds.
The Salida Capital investment team is one of the leading precious metals and natural resources teams in
Canada with an average of 17 years industry experience through multiple financial and commodity
cycles. Salida Capital has been recognized globally through numerous awards and accreditations for
delivering industry leading products and performance. Partner and employee personal capital represents a
significant portion of assets under management. Salida Capital is the exclusive investment advisor to the
Salida funds and the BTR funds. www.salidacapital.com.
Bill Gallacher
Mr. Gallacher is the President and CEO of Avenir Capital Corporation, a Western Canadian merchant
banking firm investing in new and existing companies in a number of industries, including energy, with
an investment focus on value and growth ventures. Mr. Gallacher has been involved with the start-up of a
number of junior energy companies in Calgary and currently sits on the board of directors of Athabasca
Oil Sands Corporation, as well as Maxim Power Corp., Mahalo Energy Ltd., Black Diamond Group Inc.
and Avenir Diversified Income Trust.

About Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.
Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. (AOSC) was incorporated under the laws governing the Province of Alberta
and is focused on the sustainable development of oil sands resources in the Athabasca region of
northeastern Alberta, Canada. Please visit www.aosc.com for more information about AOSC.
For further information: Courtenay Wolfe, President & CEO, Salida Capital, (416) 849-2555,
cwolfe@salidacapital.com
Legal Disclaimer: This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any
security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any securities and should not be considered an
offering memorandum under applicable securities legislation. Past performance is no indication for future returns.
Important information about these funds is contained in their applicable offering memorandum, including a detailed
description of the funds' investment objectives, investment strategies and risk factors. The above information is
qualified in its entirety by the applicable offering memorandum. There can be no assurance that a fund's investment
objectives will be met. Investments in the funds are only available to qualified investors in Canada who purchase
their investments through a registered dealer. Please contact your registered financial advisor for further
information. The expected returns of the fund may be different from the actual returns.