Tag archives: interest rates

Investor uncertainty will continue to impact Canadian M&A momentum

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on July 23, 2019 Posted in M&A

Deal count reached a seven-year high in Canada last year, but there has been a loss of momentum in the first half of 2019. On-going trade conflicts and concern over a possible market correction have generated greater economic uncertainty, and the investment outlook for the second half of the year continues to be clouded by … Continue reading

Borrowers, beware: Bank of Canada announces interest rate hike

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on July 24, 2018 Posted in Financial institutions, M&A

Recently, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz announced an increase in the interest rate from 1.25% to 1.5%. The increase comes as the Bank of Canada predicts a continued growth in the Canadian economy from exports and business investments. However, household spending may represent a smaller percentage of future economic growth due to the effects … Continue reading

The interesting thing about M&A is…

By Bruce Sheiner on November 16, 2017 Posted in Finance, M&A

Many predicted that 2017 would be another record year for Canadian mergers and acquisitions (M&A). There are also currently some predictions that interest rates will continue to rise despite the recent announcement of a contraction in the economy. In this blog post we consider these two factors. As depicted in Figure 1 below, while 2017 … Continue reading

Canadian M&A expected to rise in 2017

By Sam Zadeh (Toronto) on February 21, 2017 Posted in M&A

Fuelled by low interest rates, strong corporate balance sheets and stable finances, 2016 was a strong year for Canadian M&A. Looking forward, Citi Canada, in association with Mergermarket, surveyed a range of Canadian dealmakers to gauge their expectations for Canadian M&A in 2017. The results of this survey are set out in a recent report … Continue reading

Bank of Canada maintains historically low overnight rates and reserved outlook for 2017 and 2018

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on December 22, 2016 Posted in M&A

On December 7, the Bank of Canada (the Bank) announced that it will be maintaining its overnight rate at 0.5%, closing out a year of historically low interest rates. The overnight rate is the interest rate at which large institutions, including banks, lend money amongst themselves and is one of the main levers that the … Continue reading

2017 M&A outlook

By nrfdigitalteam on December 8, 2016 Posted in M&A, Pharmaceuticals and life sciences

As 2016 draws to a close, Ernst & Young has released its 15th edition of its Global Capital Confidence Barometer (the GCCB), which looks forward toward the trends and expectations in the M&A market for 2017. The GCCB is survey of more than 1,700 senior executives, including 52 Canadian executives, from large global companies located … Continue reading

Money makes the world go ‘round: lender protections in leveraged acquisitions

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on August 31, 2016 Posted in Finance, M&A

With Canadian prime and US federal interest rates maintaining an all-time low since the 1980s, the current market is well-positioned for leveraged acquisitions. Whether a purchaser does not have the liquidity to acquire a business or believes the potential growth of the investment will outpace any interest accumulating, the use of borrowed money to purchase … Continue reading

Dealmaking in a negative interest rate environment

By Matthew Lau (Toronto) on March 8, 2016 Posted in Corporate finance, Finance

The term “negative interest rates” was introduced into the Canadian vocabulary on December 8, 2015, when the Bank of Canada announced that it would be willing to use this “unconventional monetary policy tool” in the event of economic crisis. With the current benchmark interest rate of 0.5% already near historic lows, this announcement suggests that … Continue reading

Reflections on American M&A performance in the first half of 2015

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on July 30, 2015 Posted in Corporate finance

As seen elsewhere in this blog, the volume of global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the first half of 2015 (H1 2015) reached near record-setting heights. According to a recent report from Deallogic, the total volume of M&A deals reached $2.28 trillion in H1 2015, second only to the $2.59 trillion recorded in the first … Continue reading

The effect of rising interest rates on M&A activity

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on April 14, 2015 Posted in Corporate finance

In recent report entitled The conflict of interest? Rising rates effects on M&A, MergerMarket was commissioned by Toppan Vite to examine the effect of potential rising interest rates on the effect of M&A activity in the coming year. U.S. M&A activity was at peak performance in 2014 as deal activity increased to over 5,051 deals … Continue reading