In this podcast, Sandro Mina of Boston-based Relay Investments joins Mario Nigro to discuss search-fund trends. First exposed to search as a Stanford student in the early 1990s, Sandro co-founded Relay in 2013. In the past 12 years, Relay has backed over 250 search funds in the U.S., Canada and beyond. As Sandro notes, search has moved into the mainstream as the proven success of the model has attracted a broader range of investors. At the same time, innovations such as accelerators have developed and the line between search and PE has sometimes been blurred. Despite these changes, the basic formula for search success – energetic, motivated searchers, plus experienced investors and mentors – continues to apply.

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Eric Silber of Riverdale Poultry joins Mario Nigro for this edition of the podcast. After leaving a career on Bay Street over a decade ago, Eric and business partner Prasanna Ranganathan decided to become independent sponsors by investing in Riverdale, a leading poultry transportation business in southern Ontario. While not initially planning a hands-on role for themselves, they soon began managing operations directly and eventually bought the company outright. In a wide-ranging discussion of the long learning curve that followed, Silber stresses the importance of adjusting to the cultural shift from finance to frontline operations. He also discusses his role as a business investor and what he looks for in entrepreneurs, including resourcefulness, financial sophistication and a willingness to venture outside major urban areas.

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Stringent data protection laws and the sheer volume of digitized information in the possession of most businesses have increased cybersecurity’s importance in transactional due diligence. As Danielle Miller Olofsson explains in this episode, buyers are typically looking for a strong culture of cyber risk management in the form of privacy policies, incident response plans, and data retention schedules, among others. At the same time, cyber issues are becoming normalized and “de-dramatized”, with purchasers assessing the materiality of any cybersecurity weaknesses and dealing with cyber risk through price adjustments or indemnities. Cyber insurance is now well established and a must for most businesses. Trends in cyber risk management are also discussed, including a growing tendency to resist and even strike back against cyber-ransom demands.

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In this episode, Avneet Multani discusses Strive Equity Partners, a PE firm focused on investing as an independent sponsor in founder-owned industrial, healthcare and tech-enabled services businesses, typically in the $3-10m EBITDA range. Avneet founded Toronto-based Strive after working in the U.S. market and finding that lower midmarket deals were the best fit for his entrepreneurial work ethic. Seller rollovers, in which a retiring owner requires an experienced hands-on advisor to ensure smooth succession, are among the best opportunities for leveraging Strive’s skill set. As Avneet explains, the independent sponsor model is rapidly gaining acceptance in Canada and its flexibility should ensure its continued growth over the coming years.

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River Ewing of Hadley Family Capital is Mario Nigro’s guest in this episode. Hadley has evolved from a manufacturing business into a diversified “family office” investor that focuses on supporting searchers in Canada and the United States. River highlights the unique advantages family offices bring to the search fund ecosystem, including flexibility and a deep understanding of small-enterprise entrepreneurship. Hadley is industry-agnostic, targeting traditional searches in the $1-5 million EBITDA range and favouring businesses with strong governance structures. Canada’s unique search fund ecosystem is expanding, particularly in the self-funded segment. Hadley sees vast opportunities in Canada and River anticipates continued growth of self-funded searchers, regardless of tariffs and other economic concerns.

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As tariff threats loomed in early 2025, export-dependent Canadian midmarket businesses worried about what would happen next. In this podcast, Mario Nigro speaks with Andrew Gowan of National Bank about what he’s seeing in midmarket M&A as the new reality sinks in. Many of his entrepreneurial clients – even those that rely on the export market – are working through the situation with the help of Andrew and his team, who remain focused on supporting the midmarket. Tighter due diligence and careful analyses of cross-border exposures are now standard, but lenders are still competing for good deals. Andrew notes that consolidation opportunities are particularly attractive in Canada’s vast lower midmarket.

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In this podcast, Karen Fisman of PwC joins Mario Nigro to discuss recent midmarket M&A trends – specifically the significant decline in deal flow caused by the trade wars. Karen explains that the deals that are proceeding tend to involve smaller, tariff-resistant services businesses selling to buyers that are highly familiar with the businesses’ market niches. Karen believes that we may start to see premium valuations for tariff-resistant businesses as PE firms compete for a reduced number of investment opportunities. While a market recovery is unlikely in the remainder of 2025, Karen remains optimistic about 2026, anticipating that stalled processes will resume as clarity improves and the need to deploy existing capital drives activity.

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Professor Marc Busch of Georgetown University joins Mario Nigro for a discussion on the impact of tariffs on M&A. Professor Busch explains how current U.S. trade policy is affecting global commercial dynamics. While some moderation may be expected as “deals” are negotiated, sectoral tariffs may become a permanent fixture of U.S. trade policy. From a Canadian perspective, companies are adapting to U.S. tariffs by reshaping their supply chains and production strategies while hoping that a renegotiated CUSMA agreement will restore predictability to the marketplace. Professor Busch presents a range of scenarios regarding future trade agreements, suggesting that new trade barriers – particularly tariffs invoked on “national security” grounds – will continue to impact business planning for the foreseeable future.

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Andrew Walton of Ironbridge Equity Partners joins Mario Nigro to discuss the current state of midmarket private equity and M&A in Canada. Ironbridge’s substantial portfolio includes industrial, manufacturing, and distribution businesses across most regions of Canada. Unsurprisingly, the discussion focuses on the ongoing impact of tariff-induced market uncertainty. Even transactions that are proceeding tend to move slowly, thanks in part to longer diligence processes and a go-slow attitude among many buyers. However, as Andrew notes, while tariffs cannot be avoided, some strategies that can partially mitigate their impact are already being deployed.

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Representation and warranty insurance (“RWI”), a growing presence in Canadian M&A transactions, is the subject of Mario Nigro’s conversation with Rishi Dhir of Willis Towers Watson’s Transactional Insurance Solutions group. Rishi discusses the increased adoption of RWI in the Canadian midmarket, noting that it is now commonly used in transactions with enterprise values as low as $5 million. He explains that the premiums and deductibles for these policies have decreased, while also highlighting the broad coverage provided in deals of all sizes. Recent developments highlight RWI providers’ increased scrutiny of supply-chain flexibility and reliance on international customers in response to the tariff landscape.

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