As a tumultuous 2020 comes to a close, Canada’s technology sector is decidedly on the radar for U.S., international and domestic strategic and financial buyers. The latter half of the year has witnessed a significant increase in technology merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, with a variety of important trends driving increased activity.
The temporary slowdown in M&A transactional activity during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic has given way to an increase in closed deals and active processes. Despite a turbulent macroeconomic environment, the North American technology industry continues to demonstrate both its resilience and its reputation as a desirable market in which to invest.
This page is sponsored by Osler’s Emerging and High Growth Companies Group which is co-chaired by Mark Longo. Also the Managing Partner of Osler’s Vancouver office, Mark has over 20 years of experience in corporate finance, M&A and technology law, and has held general counsel, corporate secretary and senior executive positions for a number of private and publicly traded technology companies.
After lower reported deal activity in the first half of 2020, deal volume and values rebounded in North America, resulting in total third quarter deal values slightly surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the same period of 2019.
Vancouver’s tech community was an active participate in 2020’s M&A activity and here are some of the notable acquisitions from the year:
December 2020
November 2020
- Piranha Games acquired by Enad Global 7
- ehsAI acquired by Intelex
- A Thinking Ape acquired by DECA Games
- IUGO Games acquired by DECA Games
- Clevest acquired by IFS
October 2020
September 2020
- 7Geese acquired by Paycor
- Trainerize acquired by ABC Financial
- Mobify acquired by Salesforce
- Button acquired by Tiny Capital
August 2020
July 2020
May 2020
- Finger Food Advanced Technology acquired by Unity Technologies
- DarkVision Tech acquired by Koch Bros.
April 2020
February 2020
- Phoenix Labs acquired by Garena
- Colligo acquired by Olbia Software
January 2020
- Intrinsyc acquired by Lantronix
- Blue Mesa Health acquired by Virgin Pulse