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Linamar (LNR) announced a tuck-in acquisition on Friday, adding another $200M in mobility revenue after its $300M US deal late last year.

The two German facilities acquired expand the company’s European footprint…

… and could be a sign of things to come, with management highlighting the region as an attractive source of distressed asset opportunities.

They’ve got the balance sheet to keep executing M&A, with leverage sitting at nearly half of LNR’s target limit…

… and $2.1B of available liquidity. Combined with its exposure to Canadian industry support, continued execution should eventually translate to multiple expansion.

Unlike the Minto and InterRent takeouts, Clarke’s (CKI) $1.1B acquisition of Ravelin (formerly Slate Office) is a distressed situation - with falling occupancy and increasing leverage…

… pushing the target towards bankruptcy. Clarke CEO George Armoyan’s family office is a secured debt holder, allowing them to dictate restructuring terms - which wipe out equity holders…

… and force conversion on ~$160M of convertible debentures, taking the pro-forma entity’s loan-to-value ratio below 65% (from 94%).

Xanadu (XNDU) was up 15% in its first day of trading, which broke a five-year TSX tech listing drought. Given photonic quantum computing isn’t easy to understand…

… nearly 90% of the SPAC holders exercised their redemption option, resulting in total proceeds of ~$300M (including a $275M PIPE) - under the up-to-$500M outlined previously. While nascent, the tech seems interesting…

… as it doesn’t require extensive cooling like other solutions (expensive), but with full commercialization still years away - XNDU is a high risk bet on unproven technology.

Lassonde (LAS-A) was up 13% after reporting a big Q4 beat, which came despite moderating revenue growth…

… thanks to continued margin expansion, as the impact of higher volumes and the non-repeat of some one-time costs pushed EBITDA margins above 13% for the first time since 2017.

Management is looking to repeat that margin performance through 2026, which should help keep leverage below 2x - as the company deploys $200M+ of CapEx…

… most of which is funding the construction of its New Jersey facility. If they can execute, there’s room in the multiple - which sits two turns below the long-term average.

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