Ravi Sood
Encyclopedia
Ravi Sood is a Canadian financier
and venture capital
ist. Sood was raised in Waterloo, Ontario
, Canada. He was educated at the University of Waterloo
(B. Mathematics) where he was the recipient of numerous scholarship
s and awards including a René Descartes Fellowship, a Canada Scholarship in Technology, and a National Corporate Scholarship awarded by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
. He was the co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Navina Asset Management Inc. and its predecessor company Lawrence Asset Management Inc which at its peak controlled over $800 million in assets globally. On August 6, 2010 Navina Asset Management Inc. was sold to Aston Hill Financial. On November 1, 2010 Aston Hill reported that Ravi Sood was no longer employed by the company and had moved on to other endeavors.
Sood has also founded several natural resources based businesses including Buchanan Renewables, Feronia Inc.
, and Galane Gold. Buchanan Renewables is an innovator in the commercialization of biomass and a major contributor in the reconstruction of Liberia as featured in Time Magazine and the Financial Times
. Buchanan raised nearly $200 million in debt funding from the US Government Overseas Private Investment Corporation
. The company was acquired from Sood by a Swiss Group and a consortium of Swedish investors including Vattenfall AB and Swedfund. Feronia Inc.
, where Sood serves as Chairman, is as a result of the acquisition of a division of Unilever plc one of Africa's oldest companies and largest employers with both oil palm plantations and arable farming operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
. In 2010 Sood and his partners founded Galane Gold Ltd. which in 2011 acquired the Mupane Gold Mines in Botswana. Galane currently produces approximately 50,000 ounces of gold annually. He also currently serves as a Director of Elgin Mining Inc. and TrueContext Mobile Solutions Corp..
Sood built a reputation as a successful investor in Canadian capital markets but suffered major financial losses during the Global Financial Crisis. In 2008, after a decade-long streak of positive returns, the “Hedge Fund Master” registered an 80.6% loss in his flagship Lawrence Partners Fund, wiping out hundreds of millions in shareholder value. Most of the losses were incurred during the week of September 15, 2008 in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers
. Lawrence Asset Management subsequently halted all redemptions and restructured the fund. The fund subsequently liquidated most of its positions in early 2009 to fund payments to shareholders causing further losses.
Sood was further hindered in 2008 by a $6 million libel lawsuit launched against him by Timminco Inc. Sood established a short position betting the shares would decline and in television and print interviews proclaimed that “There is no evidence that they have any sort of proprietary technology. There is no evidence that they can actually deliver on their claims” and also that the shares were “virtually worthless”. Sood was completely vindicated as the shares declined over 99% from their peak after the company shuttered the solar grade silicon business that was the basis for his criticisms. The lawsuit has never made it to court and appears to have been dropped.
In 2009 Sood was hit with further setbacks including the death of Jack Lawrence, the Chairman of Lawrence Asset Management, in a tragic plane crash. Sood was also beset by a dissident shareholder campaign at one of his investment companies. While Sood had himself gained notoriety as a shareholder activist having launched a hostile takeover bid for Harrowston Inc. and engaged in numerous proxy battles in his career, he became the target of a dissident shareholder group seeking to oust him and his board. The campaign failed with Sood’s board winning approximately 80% of the votes and remaining in place.
Sood became well known as a frequent guest host of the Business News Network’s evening news programme “Squeeze Play”. He is best known for commenting in the media on the income trust
sector, global markets, natural resource
s and agriculture
.
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
and venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
ist. Sood was raised in Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....
, Canada. He was educated at the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
(B. Mathematics) where he was the recipient of numerous scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
s and awards including a René Descartes Fellowship, a Canada Scholarship in Technology, and a National Corporate Scholarship awarded by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
- See also :* G13 * Association of Commonwealth Universities...
. He was the co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Navina Asset Management Inc. and its predecessor company Lawrence Asset Management Inc which at its peak controlled over $800 million in assets globally. On August 6, 2010 Navina Asset Management Inc. was sold to Aston Hill Financial. On November 1, 2010 Aston Hill reported that Ravi Sood was no longer employed by the company and had moved on to other endeavors.
Sood has also founded several natural resources based businesses including Buchanan Renewables, Feronia Inc.
Feronia Inc.
Feronia Inc. is a public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, in operation since 1911 as a large-scale commercial farmland and plantation operator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . The Company uses modern agricultural practices to operate and develop its oil palm plantations and...
, and Galane Gold. Buchanan Renewables is an innovator in the commercialization of biomass and a major contributor in the reconstruction of Liberia as featured in Time Magazine and the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
. Buchanan raised nearly $200 million in debt funding from the US Government Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation is an independent agency of the United States Government that mobilizes U.S. private sector investment in new and emerging markets overseas in order to support both the sustainable economic development of those markets and the creation of American jobs...
. The company was acquired from Sood by a Swiss Group and a consortium of Swedish investors including Vattenfall AB and Swedfund. Feronia Inc.
Feronia Inc.
Feronia Inc. is a public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, in operation since 1911 as a large-scale commercial farmland and plantation operator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . The Company uses modern agricultural practices to operate and develop its oil palm plantations and...
, where Sood serves as Chairman, is as a result of the acquisition of a division of Unilever plc one of Africa's oldest companies and largest employers with both oil palm plantations and arable farming operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. In 2010 Sood and his partners founded Galane Gold Ltd. which in 2011 acquired the Mupane Gold Mines in Botswana. Galane currently produces approximately 50,000 ounces of gold annually. He also currently serves as a Director of Elgin Mining Inc. and TrueContext Mobile Solutions Corp..
Sood built a reputation as a successful investor in Canadian capital markets but suffered major financial losses during the Global Financial Crisis. In 2008, after a decade-long streak of positive returns, the “Hedge Fund Master” registered an 80.6% loss in his flagship Lawrence Partners Fund, wiping out hundreds of millions in shareholder value. Most of the losses were incurred during the week of September 15, 2008 in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
. Lawrence Asset Management subsequently halted all redemptions and restructured the fund. The fund subsequently liquidated most of its positions in early 2009 to fund payments to shareholders causing further losses.
Sood was further hindered in 2008 by a $6 million libel lawsuit launched against him by Timminco Inc. Sood established a short position betting the shares would decline and in television and print interviews proclaimed that “There is no evidence that they have any sort of proprietary technology. There is no evidence that they can actually deliver on their claims” and also that the shares were “virtually worthless”. Sood was completely vindicated as the shares declined over 99% from their peak after the company shuttered the solar grade silicon business that was the basis for his criticisms. The lawsuit has never made it to court and appears to have been dropped.
In 2009 Sood was hit with further setbacks including the death of Jack Lawrence, the Chairman of Lawrence Asset Management, in a tragic plane crash. Sood was also beset by a dissident shareholder campaign at one of his investment companies. While Sood had himself gained notoriety as a shareholder activist having launched a hostile takeover bid for Harrowston Inc. and engaged in numerous proxy battles in his career, he became the target of a dissident shareholder group seeking to oust him and his board. The campaign failed with Sood’s board winning approximately 80% of the votes and remaining in place.
Sood became well known as a frequent guest host of the Business News Network’s evening news programme “Squeeze Play”. He is best known for commenting in the media on the income trust
Income trust
An income trust is an investment that may hold equities, debt instruments, royalty interests or real properties. The trust can receive interest, royalty or lease payments from an operating entity carrying on a business, as well as dividends and a return of capital.The main attraction of income...
sector, global markets, natural resource
Natural resource
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
s and agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
.