Views From the Market
Stikeman Elliott
Stikeman Elliott provides creative Canadian legal services to clients around the world.
In this series of 15-minute podcasts on private equity and midmarket M&A, with a focus on Canada, a wide range of industry participants discuss the deal market trends that they’ve been seeing. The host and originator of the series is Mario Nigro, M&A partner at Stikeman Elliott in Toronto.
Read more about Mario Nigro: https://bit.ly/3IkJsPJ
🔗 To stay connected and receive the latest updates, subscribe to our podcast on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts
🔗 Follow Stikeman Elliott on LinkedIn for more insights
🔗 For more information and resources, visit stikeman.com/viewsfromthemarket
In this series of 15-minute podcasts on private equity and midmarket M&A, with a focus on Canada, a wide range of industry participants discuss the deal market trends that they’ve been seeing. The host and originator of the series is Mario Nigro, M&A partner at Stikeman Elliott in Toronto.
Read more about Mario Nigro: https://bit.ly/3IkJsPJ
🔗 To stay connected and receive the latest updates, subscribe to our podcast on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts
🔗 Follow Stikeman Elliott on LinkedIn for more insights
🔗 For more information and resources, visit stikeman.com/viewsfromthemarket
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 12, 2022 • 24min
Episode 27 – Search Funds: The Next Frontier
Joining Mario Nigro for this podcast is Rob LeBlanc, Managing Partner of Ambit Partners, a search fund investor with a worldwide focus that most notably includes emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Rob notes that the pandemic has accelerated “baby boomer” business exits, creating many opportunities for searchers in almost every corner of the world.
Learn more about Mario's expertise here:www.stikeman.com/en-ca/people/mario-nigro
Dec 15, 2021 • 18min
Episode 26 – Healthcare M&A During and After the Pandemic
To help us understand the business impacts of COVID-19 on the healthcare industry, Mario Nigro spoke to Cathy Steiner, Principal at Origin Merchant Partners and leader of their healthcare practice. Interest in healthcare businesses has soared during the pandemic as investors search out innovators in areas like virtual and telemedicine. As Cathy notes, the technological innovation that COVID-19 has necessitated is likely to change the sector for the long term.
Dec 9, 2021 • 12min
Episode 25 – Buying In Rather Than Buying Out: A Partnership Model of Private Equity
Joining Mario Nigro for this podcast is Charlie Gifford, Senior Partner at New Heritage Capital, which he co-founded in 2006. New Heritage focuses on founder-owned midmarket enterprises, including Canadian companies, partnering with them on a non-control basis. This “leveraged buy-in” approach focuses on growth-minded businesses looking for well-resourced and experienced support to reach their potential.
Dec 1, 2021 • 19min
Episode 24 – Pandemic M&A: Where We’ve Been and What 2022 May Bring
Our guest for this episode is Chris Hutchinson, Partner in EY’s M&A advisory practice. During the pandemic, high valuations and owner fatigue have created the busiest transactional climate in many years. The strong consumer products sector that Chris is seeing is driven by major changes in online buying behaviour that are likely to endure. Even so, supply chain and interest rate issues could affect the market in 2022.
Nov 24, 2021 • 19min
Episode 23: M&A Trends in the Food & Beverage Sector
Joining us for this podcast is Paul Hamam, a partner at Deloitte Canada and leader of its consumer industry corporate finance practice. Food and beverage businesses, heavily affected by the pandemic, have been a focus of recent M&A activity. As Paul notes, valuation uncertainty in the food sector, where the “new normal” for post-COVID consumer dining habits is still unclear, creates interesting transactional challenges for deal teams.
Nov 17, 2021 • 14min
Episode 22 - From Small Business to National Brand: A CEO’s Reflections
Robin Kovitz joins Mario Nigro to discuss her experience as CEO of Baskits Inc., the Canadian gift-basket business that she acquired in 2014. With a background in private equity, Robin has guided Baskits Inc. from its origins as a small catalogue-based retailer to a multichannel business with a growing emphasis on digital. This success, as she notes, has been predicated on focusing on people – employees and customers alike – and trusting that growth and profit will follow.
Oct 27, 2021 • 21min
Episode 21 – What is Driving Today’s High Valuations and Can It Continue?
Mario’s guest is Howard Johnson, Canadian Market Leader at Duff & Phelps and managing director in its M&A Advisory practice. A veteran of the Canadian midmarket and a valuation expert, Howard believes that today’s high valuations and (often) double-digit multiples are likely to persist since many public companies and PE firms are cash-rich and eager to invest. Tax reform and the uncertainty of pandemic-era earnings analysis may emerge as complicating factors, however.
Oct 20, 2021 • 22min
Episode 20 – What Does A Tech-focused U.S. Private Equity Firm See In Canada?
Doyl Burkett, Managing Partner of Los Angeles-based Integrity Growth Partners, joins Mario Nigro to discuss PE investments in the software and tech-enabled business services space. Integrity typically invests $10-40m in founder-owned-and-operated businesses, often taking non-controlling positions. Doyl’s strategic focus on “underserved geographies” has generated many opportunities across Canada.
Oct 13, 2021 • 24min
Episode 19 – Scaling Canada’s Smaller Successful Companies: A New Solution to an Old Challenge
Joining Mario Nigro is George Rossolatos, CEO of Toronto-based Canadian Business Growth Fund (CBGF), a private equity investor that takes minority stakes in Canadian companies, typically those in the $10-25m revenue range, working with them to promote long-term growth. CBGF was created in 2018, with George as Founding CEO, in response to concerns that Canada needs to get better at growing its successful startups into strong midmarket players.
Oct 6, 2021 • 17min
Episode 18 - Exiting Ownership But Not Leadership: Staying On As CEO Post-Sale
This episode features Jeffrey Carubba, CEO and former co-owner of Arzon, a light manufacturing business. In 2019, after many successful years, Jeff and his partner decided to enter a sale process. After pandemic-related delays, a deal was done with Jeff remaining as CEO of the reinvigorated business.
