CIBC Tech & Innovation Market Update – February 2023

Welcome to the official newsletter of CIBC’s Tech & Innovation Capital Markets Group

A curated monthly report to keep our readers abreast on relevant and recent developments within the Canadian tech ecosystem.


Canadian technology sector performance and valuationCanadian Technology Sector Performance and Valuation Chart

 

 
EV / NTM revenue multiples 1 LTM sector price performance 1
EV/NTM revenue multiples: High Growth Canadian Saas 5.2x, Mid Cap Canadian Tech 2.4x, Small Cap Canadian Tech 2.0x, Large Cap Canadian Tech 2.9x LTM sector price performace: Large Cap Canadian Tech: (12.9%), Small Cap Canadian Tech (32.4%), Mid Cap Canadian Tech (22.1%), High-Growth Canadian Saas (17.8%)

Source: FactSet and Pitchbook; as at January 31, 2023; in C$ unless otherwise noted.
1 Please refer to the end of the document for technology group constituents.

 

Canadian Venture Capital market update 2

$360M

(vs. $397M in Dec-223)
Aggregate deal value

30

(vs. 34 in Dec-22)
Number of deals

$23M

(vs. $13M in Dec-223)
Avg. deal value

Ontario

($66M / 16)
Most active province
by count ($ / #)

Quebec

($219M / 3)
Most active province
by value ($ / #)

Software

(57% of funds raised)
Most active sector

2 14 deals with no announced value are omitted from deal value.
3 11 deals with no announced value are omitted from deal value.

 

Noteworthy Canadian deals

Company

Size

Sub-sector

Lead investors

Blockstream

US$125M

Software

Kingsway Capital

NorthStar Earth & Space

US$35M

Space Technology

Cartesian Capital Group

Xanadu

C$40M

Computer Hardware

Government of Canada 

T&I @ CIBC

Deal Activity

Thomabravo - $C1.8B , Valuation January 2023

Magnet Forensics – Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by Thoma Bravo

CIBC Capital Markets acted as independent valuator to the Special Committee for Thoma Bravo’s planned C$1.8 billion acquisition of Magnet Forensics Inc. This acquisition represents the largest take-private transaction of a Canadian SaaS-based software company. Thoma Bravo intends to combine Magnet with its existing portfolio company, Grayshift LLC, to create an end-to-end digital investigations platform with significant global reach.

Please contact your CIBC technology representative to learn more about this transaction.

Read Magnet Forensics Inc. press release.

 

Technology & Innovation in‘sites’ with CIBC Equity Research

T&I ‘Bits & Bytes’

 

A red vector drawing representing a Gear and Wrench

Right to repair – Kicking off 2023 with some wins for repair advocates

The concept of ‘right-to-repair’ has been a popular topic for the Biden administration, as advocates for right-to-repair legislation argue that it reduces both costs to the consumer and unnecessary waste. Manufacturers – with tech companies some of the loudest voices – have pushed back against right-to-repair, arguing that repairs done by consumers and independent repair shops pose cybersecurity and IP theft risks, while also risking manufacturers’ reputations. In the U.S., the recent passing of multiple right-to-repair bills illustrates that there is broad support for the concept, support that will likely extend outside of the U.S.

Read the full article here.

 

A red vector drawing representing multiple currencies

CEO sentiment on the decline – Leaders gather in Davos as recession fears grow

The World Economic Forum kicked off earlier in January at Switzerland, making its return from a COVID-driven three-year hiatus. A record number of business leaders were set to meet in Davos and an uncertain economic backdrop appears to be keeping the level of enthusiasm muted. Recently published surveys from PwC and Accenture have found that CEO sentiment has declined notably in 2023, as the group looks into the year ahead and beyond. Key finding show CEOs preparing to face a number of near-term challenges, with the need to reinvent their businesses a top priority. Top technology investment plans were cited as automation, upskilling workforces and the deployment of advanced tech.

Read the full article here.

 

A red vector drawing representing Healthcare

Healthcare, media & real estate tech – A closer look at leverage

As central banks have relied on a series of rate hikes to tame inflation, equity markets have stumbled under the pressure of a tighter money environment. Not only have equity valuations been impacted by rising rates, but companies with exposure to floating rate debt have seen their interest commitments rise substantially after benefitting from an extended period of cheap debt. Our team has looked across our coverage with an eye towards debt and leverage, quantifying the impact that further rate hikes will have on interest payments and performing sensitivity analyses to determine the impact of variances in our revenue growth and EBITDA margin forecasts on the leverage outlook for individual businesses. With a number of companies under our coverage operating with leverage above 3.0x, managing debt has become a capital allocation priority and this note serves as a preview for how we expect companies under coverage to manage F2023 capital allocation in light of the shifting interest rate environment.

Read the full article here.

 

A red vector drawing representing atoms

Restructuring at Atos – Partnerships critical to meet evolving customer expectations

As companies evolve to stay competitive in a fast-changing digital environment, consistent traits of successful businesses in the IT ecosystem include strategic partnerships and high value engagement with customers.

Many companies in our coverage universe rely on partnerships to blend teams and technologies to deliver solutions across a wide range of vertical and horizontal markets that a single firm would be unable to deliver on its own.

We highlight Atos’ partnership with Airbus to develop cyber solutions and the more recent speculation that Airbus plans to acquire a minority stake in Atos’ business as an illustrative example of how these partnerships can evolve.

Read the full article here.

Recent technology news

“Where is tech going in 2023”

This time last year, many people were excited by the prospects of the metaverse, NFTs, and crypto markets. That is to say, it can be difficult to separate a market-leading idea from hype when it comes to emerging technology trends. Start this year with McKinsey’s technology practice leaders’ top tech trend predictions for 2023.

Read the full article at Harvard Business Review.

“Big tech binged on workers during Covid. Now, the purge”

Bloomberg Opinion columnist, Justin Fox, summarizes the recent messaging from Big Tech CEOs to their workforce cuts as all containing “variations of ‘we hired too many people during the pandemic,’ expressed with varying degrees of contrition.”

Read the full article at Bloomberg.

“Inside the battle for the future of Amazon”

Since Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO, Amazon has faced an incredible period of transition. In the last two months, Amazon announced 18,000 corporate layoffs and has downsized its operations, which includes cuts to their once championed Alexa line. This is in stark contrast to 2021’s first quarterly earnings, where Amazon reported its largest quarterly profit ever. Are these recent developments a warning sign of lagging business potential, or will these cost-cutting ventures pave the way for Amazon’s big comeback under Andy Jassy’s leadership?

Read the full article at Vox.

 
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Tech & Innovation Key Contacts

Roman Dubczak
Deputy Chair
Susan Rimmer
Managing Director And Head, Global Corporate & Investment Banking
Kathy Butler
Vice Chair and Head of CIBC Capital Markets – B.C.
Colin Ryan
Managing Director, Head of Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking
Daniel Lee
Managing Director, Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking
Adam Noily
Managing Director, Head of U.S. Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking
Rob Magwood
Managing Director, Equity Capital Markets
Emilie Bissonnette
Managing Director, Global Investment Banking
Frazer Wong
Executive Director, Technology & Innovation, Global Investment Banking
Mark McQueen
President and Executive Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Mark Usher
Executive Managing Director, Innovation Banking
Paul McKinlay
Vice-President and Head of U.S. Origination, Innovation Banking

Canadian Technology Constituents

High-Growth Canadian SaaS – Ceridian, Copperleaf, Coveo, Descartes, Dialogue, Docebo, Kinaxis, Lightspeed, Magnet Forensics, Q4, Shopify, Thinkific

Large Cap Canadian Tech – Altus, Blackberry, Celestica, CGI, Constellation Software, Converge Technologies, Dye and Durham, Enghouse, Evertz Technologies, Nuvei, OpenText, Softchoice, Well Health

Mid Cap Canadian Tech – Absolute Software, Calian, Computer Modelling Group, D2L, E Inc., Payfare, Real Matters, Sangoma, TECSYS

Small Cap Canadian Tech – Alithya, Baylin Tech, BBTV, Blackline Safety, Farmers Edge, Kneat, Optiva, Pivotree, Quarterhill, Sylogist, Terago, Vecima, Vitalhub, WeCommerce

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