Canva on dealmaking circuit, swoops on British graphic design group

The acquisition comes as Canva has been courting headlines around the world with a $US1.5 billion secondary share sale, which will help early backers turn their paper profits into actual dollars.

On March 8, The Australian Financial Review revealed Quadrant Private Equity was in talks with local venture capital firm Blackbird Ventures to buy a $100 million-plus stake in Canva. The mooted deal is separate from the ongoing secondary sale.

While Canva has been busy on the dealmaking circuit, it has also faced scrutiny over alleged inappropriate behaviour by former Canva chief financial officer Damien Singh. His departure was announced in February, while the alleged conduct spilled out in posts on an online forum.

Key backers include who’s who of VC firms including Blackbird, Airtree Ventures and Square Peg, and industry superannuation funds Hostplus and Aware Super. US-based ICONIQ Capital and Coatue Management came onto the register last year. Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs and pension fund Ontario Teachers Pension Plan are understood to be among its new backers.

Expectations are Canva will hold off on its public listing until 2025 or 2026, before eventually following in Atlassian’s footsteps.