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Opinion

ESG: What Do LPs Want From Their GPs?

Victoria Robson
PE

Diversity and climate change are two of the issues that investors are most likely to focus on when scrutinizing a fund’s responsibility record, writes Victoria Robson, Private Equity International. INVESTOR CONCERNS Ask a GP what drives their environmental, social and governance agenda and more often than not they attribute a significant portion of their commitment

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Opinion

Forget About The Health of Your Portfolios For A Minute

Jennifer Williams

Instead of talking about the health of our investments, let’s talk about the health of our entrepreneurs and colleagues. As investors, we are continually checking in on the health of our portfolio companies, but when was the last time we checked in on the health of our entrepreneurs—more specifically, the mental health of our entrepreneurs?

Technology
Opinion

Don’t Acquire The Threat: Cyber Due Diligence For Private Equity

Louis Higgins
PE

Don’t Acquire The Threat: Cyber Due Diligence For Private Equity is a contribution to CVCA Central from CVCA member RSM Canada. In today’s ever-evolving technological landscape, cybersecurity threats and incidents are frequently the subject of front-page articles and board discussions. It seems there is no shortage of organizations being held ransom by hackers demanding bitcoin

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Opinion

The Private Credit Landscape

John Middleton
VC

The Private Credit Landscape is a contribution to CVCA Central from CVCA member John Middleton, Senior Manager, Harmonic Fund Services. The recent growth in private credit has been rapid and exciting. It took only 20 years—and a financial crisis—to fundamentally restructure the loan market to one where alternative credit is helping fuel a very significant

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Opinion

Capturing Deal Value: Enabling Digital Capabilities Through M&A

Jensen Lee
PE

Since 2016, corporate buyers have increasingly targeted acquisitions of technology/digital companies. According to PwC’s 2018 mid-year deals report – four out of ten acquisitions of technology companies came from non-technology companies. This trend is expected to continue as enablers of value shift to include automation, data and analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of

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Opinion

A Venture Capital Fund With A Social Impact Heart – How Is That Possible?

Brenda Irwin
VC

The Relentless Venture Fund embraces a hybrid venture model: a profit driven, venture capital, health fund with a social impact heart. We are a double bottom line fund. Digital Health & Data—The Enablers But how is it possible to be a true venture capital fund that delivers venture-level returns as well as social good? It

Corporate trust blog post
Opinion

The Newest Face Of Corporate Trust And Responsibility

Ken Ip

Ken Ip, Director of Engineering at Hockeystick teamed up with Jason Brenier, Vice President of Strategy at Georgian Partners to analyze the area of trust as it relates to customer data in this special contribution to CVCA Central. Recent breaches of data in tech have amplified the need for companies to develop new ways to protect

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Opinion

Case By Case: Tax Deductions In Merger And Acquisition Transactions

Stephen Rupnarain
PE

As merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions continue to grow in scale and complexity, so have the associated transaction costs. Consequently, it makes the tax treatment of these outlays of greater importance to all parties. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has long challenged taxpayers on the deductibility of fees incurred as part of a transaction, making

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Opinion

How Ireland Can Help Canadian Companies Go Global

Deirdre Moran

If there’s one word that captures the aims of ambitious high-tech companies, it’s scale. It’s about hitting big numbers—whether that’s customers, ARR or valuation—fast. Scale is embedded into the DNA of founders and the VCs backing them with the financial firepower to reach their ambitious goals. Yet tech companies can only scale so much from

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Opinion

Private Equity—Seeking Opportunity In A Scarce Environment

Ben Gibbons
PE

This article is a contribution from Ben Gibbons, Partner, Capital Markets & M&A Advisory, RSM Canada. Mr. Gibbons will be leading the Private Equity: State Of The Nation panel at #IC18 on June 6, 2018. The market for private equity firms has never been as competitive as it is today. Not only are the opportunities