Canadians often aggressors in merger & acquisitions; buy more foreign companies than sell to others: report

TORONTO, Ont.–Canadians firms have been buying a higher number of foreign-owned businesses over the past 10 years, says the new president of M&A International, Howard E. Johnson.

Canadians acquired 4,787 foreign-owned businesses between 2004 and 2013 whereas only 3,544 foreign-owned businesses purchased Canadian companies, he said. 

“Many people might be surprised to learn that Canadians are more often the aggressor in a deal versus the sellers and we saw that really increase since 2009,” says Howard E. Johnson, who was named President of M&A International, a global organization with more than 600 professionals in 40 countries, in July 2014.

“High quality Canadian companies with capital for spending have been quietly buying up companies around the world for the past 10 years and it’s across the board in a variety of sectors.”

Canadian firms were the aggressors in eight out of 11 categories (materials, financials, consumer discretionary, energy, consumer staples, utilities, telecom and other), while foreign firms have been slightly more active in acquiring Canadian firms in the information technology, industrials and healthcare segments.

In the financial and materials sectors, Canadian companies bought almost three times as many companies as they sold to foreign firms. Geographically, close to 60 per cent of the companies purchased by Canadians were in the US, roughly 16 per cent in Europe, 14 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean, six per cent in Asia Pacific and 4 per cent in Africa and the Middle East.

“Canadian companies are becoming of increasing interest to strategic buyers around the world. The strength and performance of Canadian companies and the Canadian economy during the 2008 credit crisis attracted a lot of attention in the international community,” adds Johnson.

There has been a rise in M&A (merger & acquisition) activity in 2014.

“Today, cross-border M&A transactions are very seamless and we believe that cross border transactions will become increasingly popular over the next several years,” adds Johnson.

In addition to serving as President of M&A International, Johnson also is Managing Director and Co-Founder of Veracap M&A International Inc., one of two Canadian firms that are part of M&A International. Johnson’s term as President of M&A International will last for two years.