Investors Look To Grow Their Bottom Line
Mario Toneguzzi
For years, Pamela Draper helped Canadian companies sell their businesses or buy other businesses through her roles at CIBC and then BMO. And in recent times, Draper has also experienced the process on a personal level with the sale of her business, Bitvo Inc.
Key takeaways:
- What happened to her business sale?
- What’s the next Business Transitions Forum and her role?
- What are the keys to buying or selling a business?
Enjoy,
Mark
For years, Pamela Draper helped Canadian companies sell their businesses or buy other businesses through her roles at CIBC and then BMO.
And in recent times, Draper has also experienced the process on a personal level with the sale of her business, Bitvo Inc.
“We commenced our startup journey in 2018 and we grew Bitvo to a successful business in the crypto asset trading world before deciding to sell it in 2021. We agreed to be purchased by FTX in June of 2022 and we were actively working to get regulatory approval to close that transaction. While we were waiting on that regulatory approval, FTX blew up,” says Draper, President and CEO of Bitvo Inc., a crypto asset trading platform.
“So that transaction did not close obviously.”
FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange company, has been in the news lately after it filed for bankruptcy
Draper is also President and CEO of Pateno Payments Inc., a firm that provides innovative business payments solutions.
Draper will be part of a panel discussion at the upcoming Business Transitions Forum in Calgary on April 12 at the TELUS Convention Centre. She will be on a panel of entrepreneurs talking about the trials and successes of selling a business and raising capital.
Since 2015, the Business Transitions Forum has been helping entrepreneurs learn about ownership transitions and opportunities for M&A (mergers and acquisitions).
Now, The Business Transitions Forum is evolving to reveal comprehensive strategies to grow businesses of all kinds, while still educating entrepreneurs on the role M&A can play to increase shareholder value on both the sell side and buy side.
People are invited to join serial entrepreneurs and Canada’s leading mergers and acquisitions practitioners to learn how to:
- Increase market share and shareholder value
- Identify ways to grow and/or scale your business
- Learn about being acquired or acquiring businesses
- Learn how M&A can offer your business a path to growth
- Learn how M&A can create opportunity for personal wealth creation through an eventual transition
Prior to joining Pateno and Bitvo, Draper spent approximately 14 years with top tier Canadian banks, in the areas of corporate and investment banking.
Most recently she held the position of Director in BMO Capital Markets’ Equity Capital Markets group in Toronto where she was responsible for assisting North American corporate clients raising capital in public and private markets.
Draper obtained an Honours Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. Current voluntary positions include acting as a Director for the Canadian Blockchain Association for Women and for the Calgary Public Library
Foundation. She also serves as an Advisory Committee Member to Rallie, a financial technology company on a mission to get more women investing.
The sale of a business really depends on the current market and industry that company operates in. It also depends on the shareholders - what their goals and objectives are because they are ultimately the ones deciding to sell the business, says Draper.
There are many things that attract buyers to businesses that are for sale.
“One key thing that would go across all the scenarios is that people are generally looking for growth in revenues or the ability to cut costs by amalgamating certain existing businesses,” says Draper.
“You’re always looking to grow your bottom line and the two ways to do that is growth in revenue or cutting costs.”
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