TorQuest Partners Inc. was formed in 2002 to provide institutional investors with an opportunity to participate in the Canadian private equity markets. The Fund's objective is to acquire, alone or with partners, significant ownership stakes in established businesses and then to work closely with management to create value and drive growth.

TorQuest is a generalist firm with deep relationships across many different industry sectors, but has developed particular competitive advantages in the most attractive sectors of manufacturing, business services, financial services, food, consumer products, and chemicals. TorQuest is focused primarily on opportunities within Canada, but has made a number of successful U.S. investments as well.

TorQuest has a growing team of investment professionals with deep experience in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, business operations, finance, credit policy and risk management. The leadership was a key participant in the success of Harrowston Inc., a publicly traded private equity fund founded by TorQuest's Senior Managing Partner, Brent Belzberg, in 1993. Under Brent's leadership, Harrowston delivered a compound IRR of 44% on its realized investments from inception through to its acquisition by the Toronto-Dominion Bank's private equity group in 2001. The TorQuest team was built on this successful foundation.

TorQuest's first investment vehicle, TorQuest Partners Value Fund L.P., with a capitalization of over $180 million, was raised from a group of principally Canadian institutional investors, including many of the largest banks and pension funds. The fund has invested in five platform companies: Granby Steel Tanks, GCAN Insurance Company, CNC Global, DayMen Lowepro, and Associated Brands Income Fund with four successful realizations to date.

TorQuest's second private equity fund, TorQuest Partners Fund II L.P., with a capitalization of $550 million raised from a group of institutional investors, including many of the largest banks and pension funds in Canada and institutional investors in the U.S. and Europe, began its investment period in May 2006.