Topic: M&A

Electronic documents and signatures: a legal overview

By Craig Hickey (Calgary) on May 2, 2019 Posted in M&A

In our increasingly digitized world, it is important to know the rules regarding electronic documents and signatures. Each Canadian province and territory has adopted its own electronic commerce legislation, which are very similar to one another and largely permissive in regards to the use of electronic documents and signatures. Alberta’s e-commerce legislation is called the … Continue reading

There’s snow business like snow business: considerations for your off-season acquisition

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on April 25, 2019 Posted in Environment, M&A

Eastern Canada’s ski season has officially come to a close. However, there is more reason than ever to keep an eye on the moguls. While activities on the slopes may have ceased, market activity is often at its peak during the off-season (pun intended). For example, in April 2017, Aspen Skiing Co purchased Intrawest – the company … Continue reading

Building the health systems of tomorrow: dealmaking and the future of the life sciences sector

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on April 23, 2019 Posted in M&A, Pharmaceuticals and life sciences

EY has recently published a year-in-review report for deal making in the global life sciences industry. The publication features some interesting statistics about deal activity in the past year, and makes predictions about which trends will carry forward into the 2019 and beyond. The total value of life sciences deals in 2018 was US $198 … Continue reading

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

By nrfdigitalteam on April 9, 2019 Posted in Corporate finance, M&A

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

Outlook for 2019: cross-border M&A and post-merger integration

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on April 3, 2019 Posted in M&A

Despite a general environment of uncertainty, 2018 was quite active in the cross-border M&A arena. However, observers expect a global drop for this year, especially for the mega-deals (i.e. transactions with deal values exceeding $10 billion) amid uncertainty over Brexit and the threat of globe trade wars. Accordingly, acquirers are increasingly focusing on domestic deals rather … Continue reading

Narwhals, unicorns and profits – Canadian tech start-ups are on the rise

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on March 28, 2019 Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation

Unicorns and narwhals – what business do these creatures have in boardrooms and on stock exchanges? “Unicorn” and “narwhal” are industry terms used to describe certain private start-up tech companies. “Unicorns” are start-ups valued by investors at $1B or more, a rare and substantial feat that has earned them their mythical nickname. “Narwhals” sit a … Continue reading

Private equity and the “buy-and-build” boom

By Peter Valente (Toronto) on March 21, 2019 Posted in Corporate finance, M&A

Private equity funds are increasingly turning to a “buy-and-build” (B&B) approach to boost revenues, realize value and increase returns. The B&B approach, also referred to as an “add-on” strategy, involves the purchase of a platform company, followed by the purchase of multiple related and complimentary targets through share or asset acquisitions. B&B strategies offer an … Continue reading

Creating value beyond the deal

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on March 7, 2019 Posted in M&A

In today’s M&A market, dealmakers are increasingly under pressure – resulting from increased disruption, industry convergence, technological change and the need to shift to new business models to stay competitive – to maximize and deliver value from each deal they do. One would think, therefore, that value creation would be a priority for dealmakers. However, … Continue reading

Asset and wealth management M&A activities in 2018 and beyond

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on February 28, 2019 Posted in M&A

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

Know your worth: should you disclose undisclosed intangibles on financial statements?

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on February 21, 2019 Posted in Corporate finance, M&A

Intangible assets are the non-monetary, non-physical assets of a business, including its rights, goodwill, overarching brand, and other intellectual property (IP) (i.e., patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets). These types of assets represented 52% of the global enterprise value in 2018; however, 80% of that value went wholly undisclosed on companies’ balance sheets. Why are businesses’ … Continue reading

“Crazy Rich Asia” – record growth in the Asia-Pacific region

By nrfdigitalteam on February 7, 2019 Posted in M&A

The Asia-Pacific region experienced a strong year for mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) in 2018 and the level of M&A activity in this region is expected to continue in 2019. It was anticipated that 2018 would be a busy year with regards to M&A for Asia-Pacific companies and these predictions proved to be true. In the … Continue reading

M&A activity in the insurance sector reaching new heights

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on January 31, 2019 Posted in M&A

M&A activity in the insurance sector in North America declined in the years immediately following the financial crisis, and has peaked in recent years. We previously reported on the boom in the North American M&A insurance sector in 2016, where Q1 saw a record high in insurance agency M&A deals with 109 transactions reported. These … Continue reading

The impact of 5G technology on M&A

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on January 29, 2019 Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation

Global M&A activity in the technology, media and telecommunications industry reached an all-time high of 3,389 deals in 2018. The year was marked by several of the largest merger valuations in history, even though 70% of deals were for less than $100 million, demonstrating that much of the M&A activity was driven by smaller companies. … Continue reading

A budding investment – food and beverage investment opportunities and strategic partnerships in the growing cannabis industry

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on January 22, 2019 Posted in Cannabis, M&A

In December of 2018, Health Canada introduced draft regulations governing the production and sale of additional cannabis products, namely edibles, extracts, and topicals (the Cannabis 2.0 regulations). These regulations are set to take effect no later than October 17, 2019 and will introduce notable opportunities for food and beverage companies to enter into strategic partnerships … Continue reading

Strategies for parenting start-ups, post-acquisition

By nrfdigitalteam on January 17, 2019 Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation

In recent years, we have seen more acquisitions of start-ups by big corporations in the tech industry, healthcare, retail, fashion, beauty, food, and transportation. The benefits of M&A transactions in these sectors has been more widely recognized. For instance, for a start-up, partnering with a large corporation provides broader market access, deeper industry knowledge and … Continue reading

eSports: making it into the big leagues means learning the new rules

By nrfdigitalteam on January 15, 2019 Posted in Corporate finance, M&A

As mentioned in our first blog post on eSports, the eSports industry has experienced, and is projected to experience substantial growth. As the eSports industry continues to develop at a rapid pace, we are starting to see risks that are specific to the industry. In assessing whether a target is worth its price tag and … Continue reading

Looking back at M&A activity in 2018

By Olga Lenova (Toronto) on January 8, 2019 Posted in M&A

Looking back at global M&A activity during 2018, a report on global M&A by Mergermarket shows that while global M&A deal value rose over the last year, the number of deals fell for the first time since 2010. The value of deals rose to $3.53 trillion US dollars, an increase of 11.5% since 2018, making … Continue reading

U.S. M&A: full speed ahead for 2019

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on December 18, 2018 Posted in M&A

Optimism is the name of the game for the U.S. M&A market. A recent report by Deloitte cites positive tax reform, a relaxed regulatory climate and growing cash reserves as the primary reasons for expecting 2019 to be a big year for M&A. 79% of the 1,000 U.S. corporate executives and private equity firms surveyed … Continue reading

Brewery M&A in Canada

By Sam Zadeh (Toronto) on December 12, 2018 Posted in M&A

The brewing industry is one of Canada’s oldest, and has undergone substantive transformations in recent decades. After a period of consolidation that culminated in the mid-1980s, only ten Canadian breweries remained, of which three controlled more than 95% of the market. As a result of further worldwide M&A activity, the industry is now dominated by … Continue reading

Canadian M&A market still thought to be strong despite recent cut backs

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on December 6, 2018 Posted in M&A

Despite some cut backs in M&A activity expected over the next 12 months, the results reported in Ernst & Young’s (E&Y) 19th edition of the Global Capital Confidence Barometer (the “Report”) make clear that Canadian executives remain optimistic about Canadian and global M&A markets. Canadian executives are traditionally thought to be very bullish on the Canadian and global economy, and it … Continue reading

Record year predicted for the cybersecurity industry

By nrfdigitalteam on November 29, 2018 Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation

With a growing reliance on technology, it does not come as much of a surprise that the importance of cybersecurity is increasing as well. In its Mid-year Market Review, Momentum Cyber reported that $2.3 billion had already been lost as a result of cryptocurrency breaches. This staggering loss may be one of the many reasons … Continue reading

Summarizing the 2018 M&A Holdback Escrow Study

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on November 22, 2018 Posted in M&A

One of the common tools to mitigate transaction risk is a holdback escrow, where the buyer can retrieve funds in escrow if the seller fails to meet certain terms of the purchase agreement. There are numerous benefits to holdback escrows, such as broad claim coverage, publicly-available payout statistics to assist with cost estimation, and shared … Continue reading

Dissecting MedTech M&A deals

By Shreya Gupta (Toronto) on November 20, 2018 Posted in M&A, Pharmaceuticals and life sciences

As we previously reported, this year has seen a surge in healthcare-related M&A. Many of these transactions are in the medical technology industry, or MedTech. While the industry’s healthy profit margins and opportunities for growth have driven a flurry of activity, the potential for large rewards from MedTech acquisitions also comes with unique obstacles: Regulatory compliance: … Continue reading