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 shaping up as inflation and interest rates rise.

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 exuberance dies down.

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 year.

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 pandemic.

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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 professional practices.

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 sellers think through their tax issues well before the LOI.

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 interest in M&A across the country.

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, as well as Piyush’s plans for the business going forward.

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, uncertainty about post-pandemic pricing is creating interesting challenges for successful deal completion.

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.