FP Dealmakers: Tech entrepreneurs cash in as investors stream into homegrown startups
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Canaccord, in one case, co-led the IPO of Pivotree Inc., a Toronto-based company that designs, builds and connects information technology systems that form the backbone of e-commerce platforms. That deal raised $69 million, up from an initial plan to pull in $35 million from public investors.
With more investors looking to get in on tech deals, valuations have been pushed higher, creating ideal conditions for companies considering tapping public markets to fuel their growth, said Lauzon.
“So that’s really what’s happened within the public markets is you’ve had a whole slew of capital come from other sectors to technology, that drives valuations up, (and) the improved valuations drive companies from private to public,” he said. “And that’s effectively what we’re seeing.”
BMO Capital Markets led the equity tables, but Canaccord took second spot as full-credit book-runner in last year’s equity deals, accord to Financial Post Data, with an 8.92 per cent share. The independent dealer received 124 mandates — more than any other bank — totalling $3.39 billion. Among operating company IPOs, Canaccord had the most mandates in the year, 10, raising $278 million.
Dany Beauchemin, co-head of global investment banking and Canadian corporate banking at Bank of Nova Scotia, said tech valuations have also been driven higher by soaring stock prices at big technology companies in the United States, such as Amazon Inc., that have benefited from increased online shopping and work-from-home orders as the pandemic raged.
