2018 was a difficult year for Canadian mining companies. The aggregate valuation of TSX-listed miners declined by 12.7%, while equity capital raised by these companies declined by 36% from the previous year’s total. In this environment, new financings and deals have been scarce, but there is reason to believe that this trend might change in … Continue reading
Merger and acquisition activities in 2018 in the asset and wealth management sector logged a total of 140 deals, up 5% from last year. According to an overview published by PwC, the total announced value of the M&A deals was US$14.9 billion, which represented a year-over-year increase up 72% – the highest percentage increase since … Continue reading
Choosing to grow your business through an M&A transaction or through a strategic partnership or joint venture can be a difficult decision to make. M&A transactions and partnerships can both drive growth and bring access to new markets or product and service offerings, but they also come with unique challenges. While an acquisition allows the … Continue reading
A relentless parade of new technologies is unfolding on many fronts – one of which includes the M&A scene. While not every emerging technology will alter a business’ landscape, certain technologies have the potential to disrupt the status quo, alter the way companies operate and rearrange value pools. These “disruptive technologies” can quickly displace established … Continue reading
As seen in this recent PwC article, global automotive M&A activity was strong in 2017. Automotive deal value increased 29.9% to $53.2b from 2016 to 2017 primarily as a result of two mega deals in the Auto-Tech sector, which PwC defines as “investments in connectivity, autonomous, electrification, ride-sharing and the software, sensors, intellectual property and … Continue reading
A retrospective look at 2017 In Canada, 2017 had the highest number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals in the past five years. There were a total number of 2,274 deals carried out in 2017, compared to 1,956 in 2016. The number of “mega deals”, however, did not see an increase in 2017. “Mega deals” … Continue reading
According to a report by PWC, 43% of tech M&A deals were funded by private equity (PE) investors. For the deals with disclosed values, more than 52% are in the $50 million to $1 billion range. Private equity investors may look for different factors in a target company than the traditional corporate buyer. For this … Continue reading
In a recent blog post, we explored the reasons why a sizable number of M&A deals fail to complete every year. As discussed in that post, the closing of an M&A deal does not necessarily announce the success of a transaction. In fact, as high as 60% of M&A deals fail to deliver value even after a … Continue reading
We have all heard the expression: “Location, location, location” when it comes to buying real estate. Though that may be true for the immovable property itself, the 2018 Emerging Trends in Real Estate report (the Report) published by PwC Canada and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) suggests that the new and emerging trend in real … Continue reading
According to a recently published PwC report (the Report), Canadian mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity is booming. We recently reported that Canadian-backed equity financing activity in emerging venture capital companies is thriving. Moreover, both funding and deal volume among Canadian artificial intelligence companies have attained record heights in 2017. However, Canadian companies more broadly appear to … Continue reading
PwC has recently released the 2017 MoneyTree Canada report for Q3 2017 (the Report), which provides insight into the landscape for equity financings in emerging venture capital (VC) backed companies headquartered in Canada. While it may come as no surprise that financing activity has increased in Q3 2017, the magnitude of the increase, especially for … Continue reading
Automotive technologies are evolving rapidly and impacting not only drivers’ automotive experiences but also, the automotive industry more broadly. From assistive technologies like bicycle sensors and back-up cameras to self-driving technologies, it appears that technological innovation will be critical in order for automotive companies to maintain their relevance and competitive edge in the marketplace. However, … Continue reading
PwC’s survey on global power and renewables (P&R) M&A trends for 2017 predicts an investment thrust for the progressive sector. In 2016, the P&R sector’s total global deal value was the highest that it had been in the current decade, fueled, in particular, by mega deals for North American network infrastructure targets. Both corporate and … Continue reading
Blockchain technology has been making headlines since it emerged in 2009 in connection with the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. We’ve covered the potential use of Bitcoin in M&A transactions in previous articles in 2016 and 2014. As discussed in these articles, the volatility and lack of central authority has so far meant that the cryptocurrency plays a … Continue reading
Strategy& of PwC published Mergercast “Digital Deals – A New Frontier” (Episode 56) in July 2016, which discusses the growing rationale for digital deal-making and post-deal challenges. Particularly, this podcast identifies that digital deals accounted for nearly 32% of all transactions in 2015, up by 20% since 2011, indicating the growing appetite for digital M&A. … Continue reading
In the past, we reported on PwC’s ongoing analysis on M&A activity in the global metals industry. PwC released its most recent report in the series, entitled “Forging Ahead: First-quarter 2016 global metals industry mergers and acquisitions analysis” which breaks down the latest trends in the global metals industry, and provides insights into what the industry … Continue reading
We told you in March of last year that aerospace and defense M&A activity had rebounded after a pullback in 2013. In July, we reported that M&A activity in the aviation and aerospace sectors was strong. Now, PwC’s Mission Control report for Q4 2015 has confirmed that 2015 was a record year for aerospace and … Continue reading
The power and utilities industry has seen a surge of M&A activity in the first quarter of 2016, according to a recent PWC report. The following highlights reflect an overall positive start to the year for the power and utilities sector: Increase in total deal value. Total deal value for Q1 2016 hit $41.4 billion. … Continue reading
M&A activity in the global Forest, Paper and Packaging (FPP) industry took a dip in the first quarter of 2016 according to a recently released report (the Report) by Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC). PwC put the decrease of deal activity into perspective however with a press release last Wednesday, illustrating that while Q1 2016 was not as … Continue reading
As the market changes, so must the food industry, and this has become evident in the M&A trends of the food and beverage sector. A PWC report entitled “An Appetite for M&A” outlines the challenges facing the food industry and how they impact M&A activity. Five challenges are identified as forcing change in the food … Continue reading
Private equity investors (PEIs) when investing in new portfolio companies, seek to align management’s interests with that of the PEI to grow the value of the portfolio company and achieve a profitable return in the investment upon exit. Typically, PEIs incentivize management to adopt such interests through compensation arrangements in the form of performance incentives. … Continue reading
You may be familiar with a parent’s teaching to “share” with others – “sharing is caring”. This teaching has been a part of our economic system throughout history; bartering and sharing of goods is not a new concept. However, in recent years, “sharing” has entered the marketplace in new and innovative ways, primarily by facilitating … Continue reading
Following a pullback in fiscal year 2013, deal activity in the global aerospace and defense (A&D) sector has returned to its former levels. According to PwC’s Mission Control report for Q4 2014, the past year witnessed the total A&D deal value rebound from $14.3 billion in 2013 to $22.3 billion in 2014, which is on … Continue reading
With Q4 2014 results in for the mining sector, industry focus can shift to what lies ahead in 2015. PwC recently released a report, “Metals Deals: Forging Ahead 2015 outlook and 2014 review” (the PwC Report) which includes a look back at the metals deal statistics in 2014 and provides some insight into what we … Continue reading