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The (Artificial) Intelligent Investor

Investor advice platforms, at both the retail and institutional level, have evolved in recent years – from the use of classic literature to expanded services offered by brick-and-mortar firms. However, with the growth of app-induced innovation, various robo-advising platforms have taken the lead in providing investors with seamless, efficient, and cost-effective means of advice. We … Continue reading

Transforming Adversity into Opportunity: The Need for New Technologies Fuels Insurance M&A

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way in which we interact with the world. From working, to shopping, to socializing, most aspects of our daily lives have moved to the online world. Consumers now expect effective online platforms for all goods and services, and businesses have been forced to adapt quickly. The need for robust … Continue reading

Visiting the Doctor in a Virtual World Provides Business Opportunities in Telehealth

It is no secret that during 2020 and into 2021 the COVID-19 pandemic has created massive disruptions for a variety of industries. One such example is the movement of health care services online in order to adhere to social distancing guidelines. A wide variety of technology and applications to facilitate this, referred to as telehealth … Continue reading

Lower 2021 thresholds announced for merger reviews under Competition Act and Investment Canada Act

The threshold for certain pre-closing net benefit reviews under the Investment Canada Act (ICA) and the threshold for a pre-closing merger notification under the Competition Act have now both been released for 2021. Thresholds under both statutes decreased slightly, meaning more transactions may be reviewable or notifiable, respectively, than in 2020. Competition Act Canada uses a two-part test … Continue reading

“To the Moon”: The Rise of the Retail Investor and What this Means for Dealmakers

Retail investors are becoming an increasingly significant source of capital on public markets, and dealmakers should be aware of how this development can impact M&A transactions and the decision to go public. After the latest garnering of widespread attention in the news, the retail investment community has been estimated to constitute as much as 25% … Continue reading

Does board diversity lead to better M&A outcomes?

Board diversity has been at the forefront of the Canadian governance landscape for a number of years, and has recently been the subject of increased stakeholder focus. While gender and racial parity are ends in themselves, recent research shows that board diversity may be particularly beneficial in the M&A context. The current state of affairs … Continue reading

The Dynamic Duo: Cyber-security and Due Diligence during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (“pandemic”) continues to highlight the several ways in which M&A transactions have had to adapt to changing times, particularly by ramping up cyber-security measures in a digital world. Prior to the pandemic, there already existed a shift towards cyber-security due diligence since many businesses relied on digital assets. … Continue reading

The Smart Choice: A Predictive View in Revamping M&A Contracts

The current pandemic presents a unique opportunity to revitalize traditional M&A process and provisions. While we have previously addressed how traditional M&A provisions are impacted by the pandemic, this blog post will explore the key opportunity industries and corporations alike have in improving contractual processes. Specifically, through the use of blockchain technology and smart contracts. … Continue reading

M&A Opportunities in the COVID-19 Digital Transformation

While the COVID-19 pandemic initially had a general chilling effect on merger and acquisition (“M&A”) activity, we have seen an increase in M&A activity recently, particularly as industries rapidly adapt to the new environment and consider opportunities. Both consumer preferences and business models have been forced to change quickly due to the circumstances of the … Continue reading

Determining fair value in appraisal proceedings: the Supreme Court of Canada dismisses application for leave to appeal in Carlock v ExxonMobil Canada Holdings ULC

On August 13, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada (the SCC) dismissed the application for leave to appeal in the case of Carlock v ExxonMobil Canada Holdings ULC (Carlock), indicating that the negotiated deal price in a transaction between well-informed, sophisticated, arms-length parties that is the result of a vigorous sale process provides strong objective … Continue reading

M&A in the Consumer & Retail Sector: Before and After the Pandemic

This article will provide a high level discussion of M&A trends in the Consumer & Retail (C&R) sector, beginning with a brief summary of the activity we saw in 2019, what trends were anticipated to occur in 2020 and how the COVID-19 pandemic (the Pandemic) is expected to affect M&A in this industry. Pre-Pandemic Trends … Continue reading

The SPAC is back: going public in a pandemic

According to Axios, the first half of 2020 saw special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs” for short) in the U.S. raise over US$20 billion, easily eclipsing the US$13.3 billion raised in all of 2019. A SPAC is a special purpose vehicle that does not have any assets or operations, but exists solely for the purpose of … Continue reading

Fintech M&A Activity in 2020: The Digital Economy is Here

Paying for Payments While uncertainty arising from the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down most deal activity, Fintech, in particular the payments space, is a big exception. Recent analysis from KPMG revealed that UK payment deals in the first quarter of 2020 alone exceeded the total number of deals in 2019. Granted, deal sizes were relatively … Continue reading

Purchasing Companies That Sell Technology to the Government: The Details Matter

Procurement contracts are increasingly used in both Canada and the United States (US), particularly with respect to technological services. Federal procurement expenditures for Canada amount to an average of CAD $22 billion in goods and services annually. Further, the US typically awards USD $500 billion in contracts annually, with Canadian companies actively participating in that … Continue reading

M&A Activity: 2020 Outlook

J.P. Morgan’s “2020 Global M&A Outlook” (the Report) reviews what we can expect with regards to M&A activity this year. Some of the key takeaways from the Report include: Anticipated Trends in International M&A: We can expect to see an increase in the global M&A market due to greater geopolitical certainty and financially competitive opportunities … Continue reading

Acqui-hiring: What we know and what we need to know from a Canadian perspective

“Acqui-hire” transactions, which are particularly prevalent in the context of start-up technology-related M&A transactions in the U.S., focus on acquiring a company primarily to obtain its employees and their skills, in addition to other possible assets (see our earlier post on acqui-hires). In these type of transactions, it is thought that the greatest perceived value … Continue reading

Examining data analytics in M&A

The M&A world continues to evolve as transactions are becoming more diverse and complex. Timelines are getting shorter and acquirors have less time to assess their targets but more pressure to justify their acquisitions. Acquirors must simplify the process of acquiring a target, while simultaneously improving the accuracy of their predictions about the acquisition’s profitability. … Continue reading

Parties to M&A must be diligent about climate change

Climate change has become a high profile issue that is expected to have significant implications for M&A transactions going forward. As public awareness and scientific understanding of climate change continues to evolve, we are more informed about the climate change-related risks that businesses must grapple with and get ahead of. As a result, businesses need … Continue reading

Canadian M&A Q3 2019 Review: Canadian M&A activity remains strong despite a slight decline in transaction volume

Crosbie & Company’s “Crosbie & Company Canadian Mergers & Acquisitions Report for Q3 2019” (the Report) reviews the minor slowdown in Canadian M&A activity in Q3 2019 following a record-breaking second quarter. While deal activity declined slightly in Q3 (776 announced transactions compared to 886 in Q2), the Canadian M&A market remained robust, posting its … Continue reading

Chamber of Digital Commerce Releasing the First Ever Comprehensive Report on Canada’s Blockchain Ecosystem

Over the last decade in which the digital economy has grown at an unprecedented pace across industry sectors, blockchain technology and distributed ledger technology have shown the ability to reform the ways in which businesses and governments operate. To better understand Canada’s blockchain ecosystem, on October 4, 2019, the Chamber of Digital Commerce Canada released … Continue reading

Emerging Trends in Information Technology (IT) Mergers and Acquisitions

Canada’s burgeoning information technology (IT) sector is a standout in the Canadian mergers and acquisitions landscape. A recent report by Duff & Phelps illustrates that in the first half of 2019, IT was the third most active deal-making sector in Canada with over 104 closed transactions. Against this backdrop, three trends emerge: ‘Buying into’ privacy … Continue reading

New guidance on material climate change disclosure for reporting issuers

On August 1, 2019, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) released CSA Staff Notice 51-358 in efforts to clarify the scope of disclosure for reporting issuers, specifically for smaller issuers. Securities law in Canada requires reporting issuers to disclose material risks affecting their business and, where applicable, the financial impacts of such risks. While this notice … Continue reading

Continued robust VC investment and PE mega-deals take the spotlight in a review of the 2018 VC & PE Canadian market

A recent report released by the Canadian Venture Capital Private Equity Association (CVCA) entitled “VC & PE Canadian Market Overview 2018” (the Report) reviews the current strength of Canadian venture capital (VC) investment and very recent mega-deal trend in Canadian private equity (PE). Highlights of the Report Total VC investment remains remarkably high: a total of … Continue reading
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