Power your way forward

Over the last few years, a growing number of Ontario local distribution companies (LDCs) have turned to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to better serve their communities by driving innovation, boosting local employment and finding efficiencies for customers. During this time, Doane Grant Thornton LLP has helped many LDCs buy, merge and sell their respective utilities—walking stakeholders through the many complexities associated with these transactions and guiding them through what is often a time consuming process.

As the lead financial advisor in many LDC transactions, we’ve taken great strides to help maximize the benefits for all involved. We achieve this by

• confirming the strategic rationale of the deal among stakeholders to assist with project planning and synergy quantification;
• conducting financial model analyses, business case preparation (and presentation), due diligence and valuation analysis; and
• setting the stage for a seamless and successful post-merger integration.

Through our first-hand experience project managing these transactions, it’s become clear that, when done right, M&A has the ability to greatly benefit many municipally-owned utilities, their stakeholders and the Ontario power grid as a whole.