Cross-border deals surged to a 10-year high in 2017 – Financial Post

Emmanuel Pressman

Jan 30, 2018

Osler partner Manny Pressman tells Financial Post that there was plenty of “private equity interest in Canada” in 2017, a year that saw one of the highest volumes of cross-border deals between Canada and the U.S. in a decade, according to the article. In his article, author Jesse Snyder examines the surge of cross-border M&A transactions last year and explores the various contributing factors to the spike in activity, including private equity. Pressman, Chair of Osler’s Corporate Practice Group, explains.

“You have a lot of capital in the markets chasing a finite number of deals,” Pressman tells Financial Post. “So it’s become increasingly competitive for the private equity sector to source deals and invest in deals – and that is their raison d’être.”

Pressman also says that one of the most “noteworthy” examples of U.S. private equity snapping up Canadian assets last year was Vista Equity Partners’ US$3.4-billion acquisition of DH Corp.

He notes: “There was a lot of other private equity interest in Canada, and a lot of it was focused on the tech or FinTech space.”

But Pressman also says that Canadian firms also made moves into the U.S. and overseas last year.

“You’re seeing Canadian pension funds, private capital, and sovereign wealth funds – alternative sources of private capital – all looking for ways to deploy their capital,” Pressman tells Financial Post.

For more information, read Jesse Snyder’s article “Cross-border deals surged to a 10-year high in 2017” in Financial Post.