On February 17, 2022, FortNine announced in partnership with Novacap the acquisition of Defender Industries Inc. ("Defender").
Based in Waterford, Connecticut, Defender is a family-owned company, with a mission to make boating accessible to more people and disrupt the marine supply industry. Defender is an authorized dealer for 85,000 products from every major marine manufacturer. Defender has grown to become the largest independent marine supply firm in the US.
FortNine is Canada's leading e-commerce platform for motorbikes, dirt bikes, ATVs, snowmobiles and other powersports equipment, accessories, and parts,
Founded in 1981, Novacap is a leading North American private equity firm with over C$8 billion of AUM that has invested in more than 100 platform companies and completed more than 150 add-on acquisitions. Novacap has offices in Brossard, Québec and Toronto, Ontario.
Gowling WLG advised Novacap with respect to this acquisition with a team that included Rafal Wrzesien, Georgi Paskalev, Yasmine Mekallach and Philippe Matziorinis.