Four out of five Canadian private equity investors and venture capitalists said they expect their activity levels to increase or stay the same in 2012 compared to this year, according to Canada’s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.
Slightly less than two-thirds said their focus would be on new investments, rather than on existing portfolio companies or follow-on investments.
“While the ability to exit investments remains challenging, that doesn’t appear to be dampening our community’s interest in making new investments,” said Ian Palm, a partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s Business Law group, which released the survey results in conjunction with the CVCA.
The results also suggest 2012 will be a relatively weak year for initial public offerings. When asked about their exit strategies, only nine per cent of respondents said they anticipated an IPO. Fifty-three per cent said they expected to sell an investment through a merger or acquisition.
The results are based on surveys of 95 CVCA members between Nov. 9-18.
