Hi everyone,

I’m wondering if any Canadians have experience with the legal structures and financing required to acquire a US company as a standalone entity (not as a bolt-on to an existing Canadian operating company).

The US market offers a lot of great opportunities, but I’ve found that financing can be more challenging. Among the banks I’ve spoken with, only BMO and Wells Fargo seem willing to lend on deals where the assets are located in the US, likely due to their US presence. In these cases, they structure the financing through a Canadian holdco, which lends capital to a US acquisition co that ultimately buys the US asset. However, the leverage available for US targets is often lower than for Canadian ones.

Have any Canadian investors successfully acquired a $5M–$100M US business with investor backing? If so, how did you structure and finance the deal?

Looking forward to hearing your insights!