Topic: Technology and innovation

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Trends and opportunities in InsureTech M&A

Sara Josselyn (Toronto)By Sara Josselyn (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation
Insurance companies have increasingly looked at technological innovation as both an opportunity to increase profit margins, and as a potential disruptive force in the industry, with some insurance executives estimating that one third of their operations may be lost to FinTech. On-demand insurance that allows a consumer to purchase insurance on an as-needed basis has … Continue reading

From renegotiation to reticence: how changing NAFTA may slow the PE market

Sara Josselyn (Toronto)By Sara Josselyn (Toronto) on Posted in Antitrust, competition and regulatory, M&A, Technology and innovation
Renegotiating or withdrawing altogether from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been a focal point of both President Trump’s presidential campaign and his administration. This threat of renegotiation or withdrawal has also been the source of immense speculation from lawyers, economists, politicians and the like regarding the expected implications for the economy, key … Continue reading

Smart contracts: how computer programs and blockchain could affect M&A

Sara Josselyn (Toronto)By Sara Josselyn (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation
Smart contracts, which replace traditional paper documents with a computer program that automatically verifies and executes an agreement, are poised to fundamentally alter the way M&A and contract-based legal work is performed. Think of a smart contract as a small army of robot lawyers and accountants: once the parties agree to terms, these robots automatically … Continue reading

Specificity is key: six archetypes of successful acquisitions

Sara Josselyn (Toronto)By Sara Josselyn (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Pharmaceuticals and life sciences, Technology and innovation
Canadian M&A activity has continued to rise in 2017, but with the successes come many more stories of failure. Studies indicated that 70% – 90% of acquisitions ultimately fail. How does a company beat these odds? A recent article by McKinsey & Company suggests that companies who enter into acquisitions with a specific value proposition … Continue reading

Blockchain technology: an imminent driver of investment and M&A

Matthew Lau (Toronto)By Matthew Lau (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation
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

Exciting new technologies for corporate legal transactions

Sara Josselyn (Toronto)By Sara Josselyn (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation
The legal industry is not immune to the influx of new technologies designed to make our lives, and equally if not more importantly, those of our clients, easier and more efficient. Early last year, we reported on content management tools that revolutionized the way due diligence is performed in M&A transactions. Since then, new technologies … Continue reading

Incorporating social media into the due diligence process

Sara Josselyn (Toronto)By Sara Josselyn (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation
2017: the year of social media fails. Over the last six months, an international air carrier’s stock plummeted following a viral video of security forcefully removing a passenger from a plane. Then, Twitter was used to publicly assail a soda pop company for its lack of judgment in releasing a commercial depicting a celebrity subduing … Continue reading

Modern M&A deal process: focus on negotiated sales and increased usage of technology

Bruce SheinerBy Bruce Sheiner on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation
Technology is increasingly playing a bigger role in M&A deals, transforming the way transactions are priced, negotiated and completed. The use of different platforms is facilitating transmission of deal information to a wider group, and as a result, crucial stages in a deal can now be done remotely and simultaneously by several deal parties. Moving … Continue reading

M&A trends: augmented and virtual reality

Matthew Lau (Toronto)By Matthew Lau (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation
Since Facebook’s $3 billion acquisition of Oculus VR – a company that develops and manufactures virtual reality headsets – augmented and virtual reality technology has become a major topic of discussion in the M&A world. For those who are new to this emerging industry, virtual reality is an artificial, computer-generated simulation of a real life … Continue reading

M&A trends and how to add value in medtech deals

Eliza DinaleBy Eliza Dinale on Posted in M&A, Pharmaceuticals and life sciences, Technology and innovation
It is well documented that the medical technology (MedTech) industry has been one of the fastest growing sectors in North America over the past several years. In Ontario alone, there are currently 24,000 employees and over 1,300 companies working in this space. While it is quite healthy (Ontario’s MedTech exports amounted to roughly CAD $1.7 … Continue reading

New cybersecurity requirements for DFS-regulated entities

Troy Ungerman (Toronto)By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation
New cybersecurity requirements for Department of Financial Services (DFS)-regulated entities took effect on March 1, 2017. The New York DFS created these requirements in response to recent or potential threats to sensitive electronic information, particularly financial information and private consumer information. EY’s report provides an overview of the new framework with implications for the affected entities. … Continue reading

Back to the basics: the business value in keeping human interaction

Troy Ungerman (Toronto)By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation
In today’s market, there is significant buzz around phrases such as automation, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics and the like. Many businesses are investing in the fast-paced technology sector and innovating outdated systems for customer engagement. For example, earlier this year, the first U.S.-based robotic café opened its (figurative) doors to patrons in San Francisco, … Continue reading

Technology M&A outlook

Troy Ungerman (Toronto)By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation
KPMG LLP’s survey predicts M&A deal levels in 2017 will be steady from 2016, with the technology industry leading expectations for high activity. This follows from 2016’s profile for tech M&A deals, which had EY’s Global technology M&A report for Q3 2016 highlighting digital technologies as driving tech M&A deals for both tech and non-tech … Continue reading

Artificial intelligence M&A: the new gold rush

Troy Ungerman (Toronto)By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation, Uncategorized
While many people are still in shock after discovering that there is actually no human controlling the steering wheel in autonomous cars, tech companies, including Google, IBM, Yahoo, Intel and Apple, have found themselves in the middle of a gold rush for artificial intelligence (AI) companies. According to recent research by CB Insights, around 140 … Continue reading

M&A transactions between fintech companies and traditional banks

Denise Gan (Toronto)By Denise Gan (Toronto) on Posted in Finance, M&A, Technology and innovation
Financial technology (fintech) companies like Square, Wealthsimple and Mint are already having disruptive effects in their respective industries, changing the way Canadians pay for goods and services, invest their savings, and manage their finances. A recent survey shows that Canadians are becoming less dependent on traditional banks given the variety of options to self-manage their … Continue reading

The new trend of M&A in the media industry

Sara Josselyn (Toronto)By Sara Josselyn (Toronto) on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation
On October 22, 2016, AT&T Inc. (AT&T), the second-largest U.S. wireless provider, and Time Warner Inc. (Time Warner), one of the world’s largest producers of TV shows and movies and the owner of HBO and CNN, announced an agreement whereby AT&T intends to acquire Time Warner for $85.4 billion. After the announcement, share prices of other media companies, including … Continue reading

Merging of digital and physical worlds: impact on M&A in non-digital industries

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

Thinking of your target’s acquisition: is your cybersecurity risk assessment sufficient?

Eliza DinaleBy Eliza Dinale on Posted in M&A, Technology and innovation, Uncategorized
In 2015, we have seen several important cybersecurity breaches in the industry. Some of them have been extensively mediatized while others remained less known by the general public. Recently, the online dating website Ashley Madison was hacked and the identity of millions of users revealed all around the world. Even more recently, we learned that … Continue reading

“Acqui-hiring” the best talent

Sara Josselyn (Toronto)By Sara Josselyn (Toronto) on Posted in Employment and labour, M&A, Technology and innovation
Large public companies often acquire small private start-up companies to add new capabilities to their portfolios. This strategy is particularly common in the technology sector, where established players can take their pick of a multitude of start-ups. Given the nascent nature of start-ups, start-ups typically have limited assets, often consisting of a small number of … Continue reading

A global overview of M&A activity: August 2016

Troy Ungerman (Toronto)By Troy Ungerman (Toronto) on Posted in Energy, Infrastructure, mining and commodities, M&A, Pharmaceuticals and life sciences, Technology and innovation
MergerMarket Group recently published its September edition of Monthly M&A Insider which reported on mergers and acquisitions activity around the world for the month of August 2016. More than two thirds into the year, August was no exception to the recent rather sluggish growth in M&A activity, especially compared to the record-breaking year for M&A … Continue reading
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