BDO Canada announces that it was involved in over $16B in market transactions in 2021

TORONTO — BDO reports that worldwide deal-value increased from $3.7 trillion in 2020 to $5.3 trillion in 2021, making it a high-growth year for M&A. This included over $1 trillion of deals by financial investors, including such as pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, private equity firms, hedge funds, and venture capitalists.

The Canadian deals market was also reportedly hot, translating into demand for M&A and capital advisory services for private capital investments in private equity, infrastructure, real estate, and private debt.

Throughout 2021, assurance & accounting, tax, and advisory firm BDO Canada reportedly supported more than 150 transactions with a combined deal-value of over $16 billion. Among these deals, transactions involving private capital accounted for more than 70% of the projects completed, as Canadian capital markets rebounded significantly after a volatile year in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Michael Morrow, Leader of M&A and Capital Markets at BDO Canada said, “2021 was a robust year for investors and sellers alike, including very strong deal activity supported by the largest, ongoing wealth transfer in Canadian history, record low interest rates and the robust return of institutional investors to the capital markets. Our deal experience gave us the ability to service the vibrant Canadian market in 2021, at levels not seen since before the global financial crisis. We observed exceptional deal values and volumes across sectors, including infrastructure, technology, life sciences and manufacturing, which are the fastest growing industries of M&A activity across the Canadian firm.”

Among the largest deals that BDO Canada supported, the firm acted as advisor to:

• CPC Pumps. BDO Canada’s M&A and Capital Markets team acted as exclusive financial advisor to CPC Pumps last year by assisting the business owners throughout the divestiture of their company which was acquired by Atlas Copco. Atlas Copco is a Swedish multinational that manufactures industrial tools and equipment. CPC Pumps joins its Gas and Process division.
• Société québécoise des infrastructures (“SQI”) and Pomerleau Capital. BDO Canada’s Valuations & Modelling team performed a financial model review related to the SQI project for the construction of four new schools. BDO’s client, Pomerleau Capital, was ultimately selected as the preferred proponent for the project.

BDO Canada anticipates deal activity to remain strong, driven by robust economic growth in the Canadian marketplace, access to record amounts of liquidity, and aging demographics. While the public markets have been very volatile of late, due to a number of risk factors including ongoing supply chain disruption, increasing inflation and interest rates, geopolitical risk, and labour shortages, Canadian mid-market M&A activity and valuations have remained reportedly stable through this period.