Add Canadian financial advisory practices to the list of shopping items hit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s global trade war. The great expectations that market watchers had for merger-and-acquisition (M&A) activity this year have only partially materialized, thanks to capital market volatility and a risk-off posture adopted by would-be buyers.
“That’s a discussion that everyone’s having, across Canada and globally — is now the right time to put capital at risk,” said Michael Morrow, managing director, national leader, M&A and capital markets with BDO Canada. “I don’t think any management team or board of directors is going to get scolded for waiting until uncertainty clears.”
Last month’s announcement that Purpose Unlimited Inc. is buying Steadyhand Investment Management Ltd. and Steadyhand Investment Funds Inc. was more exception than rule so far this year.
Morrow said he’s seeing activity in the life and health insurance space that includes strategic consolidators, private equity shops and mid-market players. But the deals are modest. The $100-million-plus mega deals are “more tricky to get done in this environment, because you’ll have multiple stakeholders involved,” he said.
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