Why U.S. Private Equity is Setting its Sights on Canada

John Mercury comments in BNN Bloomberg's look at the growing amount of U.S. private equity investment in Canada. He responded to the skepticism of others in the industry who question the benefits of this trend. John says that U.S. private investment in Canada typically leads to significant job creation, expanded infrastructure, enhanced innovation in the Canadian economy and improves liquidity for shareholders.

“If there are any disadvantages brought on by American private equity acquiring Canadian businesses, then they are far outweighed by the advantages. U.S. private equity firms are under significant pressure to deploy capital and to generate returns. This helps explain why they are so focused on Canada as an investment destination. Canada's standard of living depends on U.S. and other foreign institutional investors committing to this country," John said.

Canadian PE deal flow with U.S. involvement more than doubled over the past five years to $33.8 billion in 2021. U.S. investors now represent 56 per cent of all PE deals in Canada, up from 42 per cent in 2016, according to PitchBook data.