Views From the Market

In this podcast, Mario Nigro speaks with Michele Middlemore, Managing Director of MC2 Business Advisors Inc., about the importance of understanding what truly matters to the midmarket seller. Preservation of corporate philosophy, retention of long-term employees and other non-monetary considerations are often top of mind for long-term operators entering the mysterious world of M&A for the first ti...

Joining Mario is Anne Ristic, CEO of Agency Employment Services (AES). Anne, a longtime partner of Stikeman Elliott, recounts her decision to embark on a new career as of 2022, and how the search fund model allowed her to find a perfect fit in the form of AES, a growing HR back office business. She and Mario also discuss some of the challenges faced by a first-time CEO as well as the current state...

Human capital is the subject of today’s podcast, as Mario Nigro is joined by Ian Brenner of Farber Group in Toronto. The human side of business has taken centre stage in the past few years as companies struggle to retain talent at every level. The pandemic focused corporate attention on employee satisfaction and corporate culture, while, in a new development, the possibility of recession is puttin...

In this episode, Mario Nigro speaks with Ryan Farkas of BDO Canada. Ryan focuses on deals in the $10m-150m range across all industries, giving him a broad perspective on the state of the market at a time of rising interest rates, inflation and instability. While deal flow remains relatively robust, transactions are more challenging to complete as buyers take more time to understand the market they...

Mario Nigro welcomes Alex Parker, co-head managing director of the National Client M&A Group at National Bank of Canada. Alex shares how National Bank’s integrated team grows its business outside of Québec while maintaining its focus on family and entrepreneur led businesses. Alex and Mario look to how different sectors are responding to recent market dynamics and Alex gives his thoughts on the “C...

Mario Nigro’s guest in this episode is Trish Higgins, Co-Founder and Partner of Chenmark. Chenmark is a Maine investment firm with a goal of acquiring, growing and holding on to small-to-medium sized businesses. Mario and Trish discuss Chenmark’s long-term investment perspective as it looks for steady businesses with a durable demand for their goods or services and a history of profitability that...

Mario’s guest in this podcast is Duncan Ramage, head of Private Equity at Toronto-based Forum Asset Management. Duncan oversees a Forum team that invests in smaller and midmarket businesses in the infrastructure space, broadly construed to include everything from HVAC to broadband providers to outdoor billboards. Duncan discusses how Forum assesses and structures investments and how the market is...

Marc Paiement joins Mario Nigro to discuss recent developments at Novacap, one of Canada’s largest and oldest PE firms. Working from the firm’s Toronto office, Marc leverages his own extensive experience as an entrepreneur in developing growth strategies for Novacap’s businesses, which come from a wide range of sectors. Looking ahead, Marc is seeing steady deal flow even as the pandemic-era exuber...

In this podcast, Mario Nigro speaks with Justin Catalano, head of the PE group at Fengate Asset Management. Toronto-based Fengate partners with entrepreneurs, bringing capital and strategic expertise to help them grow their established businesses. Justin and Mario discuss Fengate’s recent work, the effect that economic uncertainty is having on deal flow, and how the market might look in the coming...

Joining Mario in this podcast are Philip Desrochers and Cameron Roblin of Stratos Growth Partners, a search fund focused on small and mid-sized Canadian businesses looking for a tailored succession strategy. In addition to the Stratos story, Cameron and Philip discuss their acquisition of GLP Canada Inc., a distributor of HVAC products, and the renewed interest in HVAC that has resulted from the p...

Mario’s guest for this podcast is Sara Zborovski, a partner at Stikeman Elliott and leader of the firm’s life sciences and healthcare regulatory practice. As Sara and Mario discuss, the recent surge in health sector M&A has shown the importance of expert regulatory guidance relating to everything from telemedicine and medical AI technology to the compliance aspects of roll-up acquisitions of profe...

Mario’s guest in this episode is Stephen Rupnarain, leader of RSM Canada’s M&A Tax Services practice. Recent changes to Canadian tax laws have focused buyer and seller attention on transactional tax issues, notably depreciation. Despite the elimination of some traditional tax planning mechanisms, Stephen finds that it is still possible to achieve results that work for both sides – especially where...

In this episode, Mario Nigro is joined by Stephanie Mooney of Trivest Partners, a Florida-based PE firm that focuses on family and founder-owned businesses. Trivest, which has been active in the Canadian midmarket for many years, has recently added funds that focus on smaller businesses and minority growth equity. Despite indications of an economic slowdown, Stephanie is continuing to see strong i...

Mario Nigro is joined by Piyush Kunnapallil, CEO of Ti Foods, a GTA-based importer and distributor of Asian food brands. After developing his management skills at a multinational electronics firm, Piyush relocated to Canada where he found search funds were ready to help him achieve his goal of leading a midmarket business. He and Mario discuss the process that led to the transaction with Ti Foods,...

Joining Mario Nigro for this podcast is Sylvia Rasic, Partner in Deloitte’s M&A Group in Toronto. Sylvia is a CPA with a broad transactional practice that often focuses on private companies in the manufacturing and industrial sectors. Expectations and valuations in areas such as logistics, packaging and building products have been strongly affected by COVID-19 and, as the economy slows, uncertaint...

Today’s guest on the podcast is Peyman Aleagha, Founder & CEO of WebsiteBox. WebsiteBox developed and sold a popular and affordable website builder and CRM platform for real estate professionals. Mario and Peyman discuss the company’s history, from idea to success, and the key ingredients of a successful sale process: confidence, careful preparation, a clear vision and a trusted team of advisors.

Joining Mario Nigro for this podcast is Jason Sellakumar of First West Capital, a junior capital provider with 20 portfolio companies at present. Mario and Jason discuss First West’s experiences as a cash lender to businesses in need of capital beyond what is available from bank lenders and look at how market uncertainty could generate new demand for this type of financing.

Shilpa Mishra, Managing Director and Leader of the Capital Advisory team at BDO Canada, joins Mario Nigro to discuss recent financing trends in the Canadian midmarket. During the pandemic period, banks and alternative lenders, particularly U.S.-based PE funds, have shown an increasing willingness to look at midmarket deals. Mario and Shilpa discuss whether, in anticipation of further rate increase...

Mario Nigro’s guests in this podcast are Trevor Lwin and Bruce Moszcelt, Operating Partners of Blue Frame Capital Partners. In 2011, Trevor and Bruce were among the first in Canada to enter the search space, acquiring a business that they successfully operated for 5 years. Recently, they joined with two traditional investors to create Blue Frame, which provides financing and advice to searchers ac...

In this episode, Mario Nigro speaks with Michelle Alphonso of Grant Thornton LLP about her recent experiences conducting financial diligence in midmarket M&A transactions. While opining on “sustainable EBITDA” can be a challenge in these uncertain times, Michelle and her team are able to identify and evaluate the variables that make up a company’s risk profile. Data analytics are playing an increa...

Mario’s guest on this edition of the podcast is Shawn Neylan, a partner at Stikeman Elliott and a specialist in foreign investment issues of all types. In recent years, and particularly since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, compliance with economic sanctions legislation has been a growing regulatory issue for many Canadian businesses. Today, even small and medium-sized businesses...

Mario Nigro’s guest on this podcast is Leon Raubenheimer, founder of Toronto-based Zed Financial Partners, which for 20 years has specialized in connecting Canadian businesses with debt and equity financing. Leon provides insight into the factors that make a financing deal work, which include targeting the right financiers and presenting the deal clearly. While an economic recession is possible, h...

Daniel Lee of CIBC Capital Markets joins Mario to discuss the state of the midmarket tech sector after two years of pandemic-driven growth. Despite some softening in valuations, Daniel detects positive signs: investment capital “dry powder” is at historically high levels and the economy’s structural shift toward digital transformation will likely sustain a healthy investment climate.

Mario’s guest in this podcast is Lena Koke, the driving force behind Axess Law, a provider of consumer-friendly legal services focused on residential real estate, as well as will drafting and probate. Lena’s understanding of the retail sector has helped shape Axess as it continues to push the boundaries of virtual service provision in a historically conservative industry – a process accelerated by...

In this episode, Mario welcomes Ramandeep Grewal, Partner and Member of the Corporate Group at Stikeman Elliott in Toronto. Well-known for her securities law expertise, Raman is a leading advisor in the growing field of ESG. As she and Mario discuss in this podcast, it is partly because of the increasing recognition of the link between strong ESG performance and sound overall management that ESG p...