Lexpert Magazine

34 LEXPERT MAGAZINE | MARCH/APRIL 2018 INTEGRATION EXCELLENCE AWARD OpenText acquires Dell's EMC Enterprise Content Division Canada's largest soware company, Open- Text, took a step towards becoming even bigger when it bought Dell-EMC's En- terprise Content Division for US$1.62 billion, with an eye towards its expand- ing its services to larger businesses. It was the company's largest purchase ever, and makes OpenText the world's largest vendor of soware that helps businesses organize and store their documents. e purchase also increases OpenText's geographic ex- posure and presence in developing markets. "Customers are rethinking their enter- prise platforms to better compete in the age of digital," OpenText Chief Execu- tive Officer and Chief Technolog y Offi- cer Mark Barrenechea said when the deal was announced. e acquisition of the EMC Enterprise Content Division and assets — especially Documentum, an enterprise content management platform — significantly strengthens the Waterloo, Ont.-based company's Enterprise Information Man- agement platform in the cloud. e enterprise cloud computing market is intensely competitive with companies including Microso Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. all offering rival solu- tions for businesses. OpenText says it dif- ferentiates itself by owning its own data centres and infrastructure around the world, which helps ensure businesses com- ply with privacy and security legislation in their own jurisdictions. e synergies of the deal were expected to be immediately accretive to earnings. Barclays, which acted as a financial advisor, has provided a US$1-billion debt commit- ment for the deal, OpenText said. AGRICULTURAL & FISHERIES DEAL OF THE YEAR Cooke buys Omega Protein New Brunswick seafood giant Cooke Aqua- culture is continuing a remarkable growth spurt with the US$500-million purchase of Omega Protein Inc., a century-old Hous- ton-based fish oil and fishmeal company. Black Harbour-based Cooke, through subsidiary Cooke Aquaculture, has salmon-farming operations in Atlan- tic Canada, Maine, Washington State, Chile and Scotland, as well as sea- bass- and seabream-farming operations in Spain. e company, which employs roughly 5,000 people worldwide, has been growing quickly in recent years. In 2015, the family created Cooke Sea- food USA Inc. and entered the wild fishery market by acquiring Wanchese Fish Co. Inc. In 2016, it expanded its wild fisheries business through the acquisition of Icicle Seafoods Inc. in the US, as well as the assets of Fripur S.A., the largest fishing company in Uruguay. Omega, its latest acquisition, is a nu- tritional product company that develops and sells products designed to improve the nutritional integrity of foods, dietary supplements and animal feeds. Omega's animal-feed ingredients are on track to re- ceive Marine Stewardship Council sustain- ability certification. Cooke CEO Glenn Cooke said that made Omega an attractive target, because sustainability is "an impor- tant component in Cooke Aquaculture's production of healthy Atlantic salmon." With roughly 1,000 employees, Omega operates seven manufacturing facilities in the US, Canada and Europe and more than 30 vessels that harvest menhaden, a fish abundantly found in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. BUSINESS SERVICES DEAL OF THE YEAR Ritchie Bros. acquires IronPlanet When BC-based Ritchie Bros. did the cash and share deal for IronPlanet Inc. for $758.5 million, the company called it a transformative transaction, one that will help the Canadian company build its multi-channel platform, global reach and long-standing customer relationships. Vancouver-area based Ritchie Bros. is the world's largest heavy-equipment auc- tioneer and provider of end-to-end services. It operates in sectors such as construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, min- ing, forestry, and oil and gas. | CANADIAN DEALMAKERS AWARDS |

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