Tag archives: Investment Canada Act

2020 merger review thresholds for Competition Act and Investment Canada Act

By Kevin Ackhurst (Toronto) on April 2, 2020 Posted in Antitrust, competition and regulatory, M&A

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 2020. The Commissioner of Competition announced on April 1 that the threshold would remain the same as in 2019. Competition Act Canada uses a two-part test for … Continue reading

2019 merger review thresholds for Competition Act and Investment Canada Act

By Kevin Ackhurst (Toronto) on February 5, 2019 Posted in Antitrust, competition and regulatory

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 been increased for 2019. Competition Act Canada uses a two-part test for determining whether a pre-merger notification is necessary. The two-part test is based on the size of the parties and the … Continue reading

Foreign investment laws and increased scrutiny of M&A transactions

By Mark Bissegger (Toronto) on September 11, 2018 Posted in Antitrust, competition and regulatory, M&A

2018 is on pace to be a year with one of the highest total values of blocked or cancelled M&A deals in the past two decades. While this data, which was compiled by Thomson Reuters and reported by the Financial Times, is based on public M&A transactions, the reasons and insights behind it can nonetheless … Continue reading

2018 merger review thresholds for Competition Act and Investment Canada Act

By Kevin Ackhurst (Toronto) on February 14, 2018 Posted in Antitrust, competition and regulatory, M&A

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 been increased for 2018. Competition Act Canada uses a two-part test for determining whether a pre-merger notification is necessary. The two-part test is based on the size of the parties and the … Continue reading

Investment Canada Act update: new thresholds and national security in the news

By Rowan Weaver and Kevin Ackhurst (Toronto) on July 18, 2017 Posted in Antitrust, competition and regulatory, M&A

Threshold now $1 billion As a result of recent amendments, most direct acquisitions of control of a Canadian company now only require prior approval of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development under the Investment Canada Act if the enterprise value of the Canadian business exceeds $1 billion. That is expected to reduce the … Continue reading

National security guidelines shed light on Investment Canada review process

By Kevin Ackhurst (Toronto) on December 20, 2016 Posted in Antitrust, competition and regulatory, M&A

On December 19, 2016, the Government of Canada issued long-sought guidelines to help foreign investors and their advisors understand the national security review process under the Investment Canada Act (ICA). Following amendments to the ICA in 2009 the government has had the explicit authority to review investments in Canadian businesses by non-Canadians to determine whether … Continue reading

2015 reform of Investment Canada Act now paying dividends in form of inward foreign direct investment

By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on December 1, 2016 Posted in M&A

As we await Q3 statistics on Canada’s inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI), the rebounding numbers in Q1 and Q2 have represented a step in the right direction. FDI is a macroscopic measure of private investment (in contrast to portfolio investment) and includes among other types of investment, mergers and acquisitions. The rebounding comes … Continue reading

New merger review thresholds for Competition Act and Investment Canada Act

By Kevin Ackhurst (Toronto) on February 5, 2015 Posted in Antitrust, competition and regulatory, Corporate finance

The threshold for a pre-closing net benefit review under the Investment Canada Act and the threshold for a pre-closing merger notification under the Competition Act have been increased for 2015. Investment Canada Act The direct acquisition of control of a Canadian business by a non-Canadian from a WTO-member country is subject to pre-closing review and … Continue reading

Canada blocks telecom deal for national security reasons

By Kevin Ackhurst (Toronto) on October 8, 2013 Posted in Antitrust, competition and regulatory, Technology and innovation

The Canadian government has used the Investment Canada Act to block the proposed acquisition of the Allstream division of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. by Accelero Capital Holdings for national security reasons. On October 7, 2013, the Minister of Industry, James Moore, issued a brief statement in which he noted: MTS Allstream operates a national fibre optic network that provides critical telecommunications … Continue reading

Amendments to Investment Canada Act intended to increase transparency

By Kevin Ackhurst (Toronto) on May 7, 2012 Posted in Antitrust, competition and regulatory

On April 27, 2012, the federal government announced it would amend the Investment Canada Act to allow the Minister of Industry greater flexibility in explaining why a proposed foreign takeover of a Canadian business raises preliminary concerns. The amendments, contained in the government’s annual budget bill, will also empower the Minister to accept offers of security … Continue reading