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Challenges for State-Owned Enterprises Arising From Proposed Amendments to the Investment Canada Act

By Oliver J. Borgers and Michele Siu on Posted in Contractual Matters, Private Equity, Private Transactions, Public M&A, Shareholders, Strategy

The Canadian government’s Bill C-60 contains proposed amendments to the Investment Canada Act that will significantly impact foreign investors whom the Canadian government considers as state-owned enterprises (SOEs).  An investor might be an SOE even if a foreign state only indirectly “influences” the investor.  Under these amendments, if the Minister of Industry determines that an… → Read More

New 2013 Competition Act Merger Notification Threshold

By Oliver J. Borgers and Michele Siu on Posted in Private Equity, Private Transactions, Public M&A

The Competition Bureau (Bureau) has announced that the pre-merger notification transaction-size threshold for 2013 will increase to $80 million from the 2012 threshold of $77 million. As per the indexing mechanism set out in the Competition Act (Act), the pre-merger notification threshold is reviewed annually. The 2013 threshold is anticipated to come into effect on… → Read More

New 2013 Investment Canada Act Review Threshold

By Oliver J. Borgers and Michele Siu on Posted in Private Equity, Private Transactions, Public M&A

Industry Canada has announced that the Investment Canada Act (Act) threshold for 2013 that applies to most direct acquisitions of Canadian businesses by non-Canadian investors from World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries is $344 million (an increase from last year’s $330 million threshold). The threshold applies to the gross book value of the target’s assets…. → Read More

The Investment Canada Act – Recent Announcements

By Oliver J. Borgers and Emily Rix on Posted in Private Transactions, Public M&A

Recently, the Government of Canada issued a flurry of announcements relating to the Investment Canada Act.  Here are some highlights that we thought would be of interest to our M&A Blog followers: The government is proposing a legislative change that would require the Minister of Industry to give reasons for any rejection under the Investment… → Read More

Cutting Through! Strategies to Address Recent Developments in the Regulatory Review Process

By Oliver J. Borgers and Tyler McAuley on Posted in Private Transactions, Public M&A

In our last post we highlighted some of the important developments in the regulatory rules regarding foreign direct investment and the Competition Bureau’s merger review process. In consideration of these changes, we’ve put together some of the important strategies to keep in mind when conducting a transaction that will fall under these, or any other… → Read More

Competition Bureau Increases the “Transaction-Size Threshold” for Pre-Merger Notification

By Oliver J. Borgers and Tyler McAuley on Posted in Private Transactions, Public M&A

Last week we discussed the new merger review guidelines released by the Competition Bureau of Canada. On Tuesday, February 7, 2012 the Bureau announced  additional changes to one of the key thresholds that trigger pre-merger notification and the review process discussed in our earlier post. In Canada, parties are required to notify the Commissioner of Competition where… → Read More

Competition Bureau Releases New Merger Review Guidelines

By Oliver J. Borgers and Tyler McAuley on Posted in Private Transactions, Public M&A

Earlier this month, the Competition Bureau published new Guidelines for its review process under the federal Competition Act. These Guidelines describe the Bureau’s general approach to administering its review process. In general, where a proposed transaction surpasses the “party-size” and “transaction-size” thresholds parties are required to notify the Commissioner prior to completing the proposed transaction. Following… → Read More

New Thresholds for Foreign Direct Investment Review

By Oliver J. Borgers and Tyler McAuley on Posted in Private Transactions, Public M&A

In recent weeks, Industry Canada has announced important developments that affect the regulatory review process for Canadian mergers and acquisitions. Below, we give a brief introduction to the foreign direct investment review process and highlight some of these important changes. Under the Investment Canada Act, Industry Canada is empowered to receive notice and often conduct… → Read More