Lexpert Magazine

LEXPERT MAGAZINE | MARCH/APRIL 2018 33 | CANADIAN DEALMAKERS AWARDS | construction, relocation or reconstruction of 43 stores. And 2017 isn't over yet, at least insofar as the fiscal year is concerned, so there's no time to rest for Couche-Tard's acquisition machine. CONSUMER BUSINESS DEAL OF THE YEAR Alimentation Couche-Tard acquires CST Brands Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., already the largest convenience store operator in Canada with more than 8,000 outlets throughout North America, continued to indulge its appetite for acquisitions in 2017 with a US$3.69-billion all-cash acquisition of rival CST Brands Inc., the fourth-largest gas and convenience-store chain on the continent. Valued at about US$4.4 billion with debt, it is the Canadian company's larg- est acquisition ever. Texas-based CST has more than 2,000 locations throughout the southwestern United States, Georgia and eastern Canada. Couche-Tard, based in Laval, Québec, said the real prize in the deal was CST's more-than 600 stores in Texas, within the so-called "Sun Belt" — the area that stretches across the southern and southwestern portions of the United States, seen as a major high-growth market. e transaction cements Couche-Tard's status as a top global player in the conve- nience-store sector and edges it ever closer to market leader 7-Eleven, owned by Seven & I Holdings Co. of Japan. e Competition Bureau of Canada approved the CST deal with the con- dition that the company sell 366 CST Canadian gas stations and gasoline sup- ply contracts to Parkland Fuel Corp. e company said it plans to use the proceeds from the sale, about $750 mil- lion, to repay part of its credit facilities. e US Federal Trade Commission also green-lighted the sale with conditions. It required Couche-Tard to sell up to 71 US stores in eight states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexi- co, Ohio and Texas. When the dust settled, the CST trans- action le Couche-Tard with 1,263 new Canadian and US sites worth US$3.7 billion to be folded into its North Amer- ican network. VALUE CREATION AWARD CGI Group Inc. Even giant companies can create great val- ue for their investors. Take Montréal-based CGI. e Canadian global information technology, consulting, systems integra- tion, outsourcing and solutions compa- ny has le stock market indices eating its dust in the past three years. In 2014, it was already one of the larg- est independent business processes and IT services provider in the world, and the big- gest tech firm in Canada. But CGI made a tremendous number of acquisitions over the past couple of years and shareholders liked what they saw. In March 2016, CGI acquired JSL Soware Solutions in March; in April it bought Alcyane Consulting; in October, Coupon Inc. (none of the deal terms were disclosed). In November, CGI Technologies and Solutions snapped up Boston-based Collaborative Consulting LLC for approximately $150-million. By then, CGI ranked No. 955 on the Forbes Global 2000. Last year was just as frenetic. CGI bought ECommerce Systems Inc. and Computer Technology Solutions Inc. on the same day in April. It acquired Summa Technologies Inc. in August (all deal terms were undisclosed), in August CGI Nordic Investments acquired Affexto Oyj also in August for $166.6 million and the next day CGI announced the purchase of Summa Technologies Inc. e bottom line? From the first trading day of 2014 to the final trading day of 2017, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 19 per cent and the S&P 500 IT Services In- dustry Index was up 12 per cent. CGI? Up 92 per cent. at's value no matter how you slice and dice it. IPO OF THE YEAR Canada Goose Aer a long drought of initial public of- ferings in 2016, the proposed IPO of lux- ury parka maker Canada Goose in the first quarter of 2017 was met with an ecstatic reaction from market participants looking to branch out. e Toronto-based retail- er's IPO raised $340 million, with shares priced at $17, above the marketed range of $14 to $16. e over-allotments were all grabbed up. In their first day of trading in March, subordinate voting shares — listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker "GOOS" — soared over 25 per cent to close at $21.53 in Toronto, giving the company a market value of about $2.3 billion. e shares were closing in on $40 by the end of 2017 and on an upward trend. Canada Goose was taken public by Bain Capital LLC, which bought a 70-per-cent stake in the clothing manu- facturer in 2013. e private equity firm continues to own a controlling interest in the company following the IPO, accord- ing to the prospectus. Founded in a small warehouse in To- ronto in 1957, Canada Goose has grown into one of the world's leading makers of performance luxury apparel. e company has already opened two flagship stores to sell directly to the public, in Toronto and in New York. In November, it announced it was opening three new stores: in Boston, Calgary and Tokyo.

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