Insights and perspectives
Insights features commentary from KitsWest Capital on business valuation, business brokerage, and business financing matters affecting owner-managed and privately held businesses across BC and Alberta.
Our articles focus on practical issues relevant to founders, shareholders, and management teams evaluating business sales, acquisitions, financing decisions, recapitalizations, ownership transitions, and broader strategic alternatives.
Based in Vancouver, we publish content intended to help small to mid-market owner-managed businesses in BC and Alberta better understand the issues that often arise before, during, and after important financial and strategic decisions.
Topics we cover
Our Insights content is focused on practical issues across three core advisory areas:
Business valuation
Articles on what drives value, how businesses are assessed, and how valuation fits into succession planning, ownership discussions, financing matters, and transaction decisions.
Business sales & acquisitions
Commentary on preparing a business for sale, evaluating offers, acquisition strategy, transaction readiness, and broader ownership transition matters.
Business financing
Insights on debt structures, refinancing initiatives, acquisition financing, recapitalizations, and the broader financing decisions that affect flexibility and long-term value.
Minority and marketability discounts in Canadian private companies
Minority and marketability discounts can materially reduce private-company share value. Learn when they apply, how they compound and what supports them.
Departure tax and deemed dispositions when leaving Canada
Leaving Canada can trigger tax on unsold private-company shares. Learn how fair market value is established for the departure-date deemed disposition.
Business valuation in shareholder disputes and oppression claims
How private-company shares are valued in shareholder disputes, including valuation dates, normalized earnings, control discounts and oppression claims.
How to find and approach a business to buy in Canada
How to define acquisition criteria, build an off-market target list, approach owners and turn a long Canadian business search into one credible deal.
Business valuation in Victoria and Nanaimo: What drives value
How location, buyer depth, owner dependence and sector mix affect business value in Victoria, Nanaimo and across Vancouver Island communities and markets.
Bolt-On Acquisitions: Growing by Buying a Competitor
How buying a competitor changes your size and your multiple at the same time, what makes a good target, and how bolt-ons get financed.
CBV vs CVA: Which Valuation Credential Matters in Canada
CBV is the Canadian designation, CVA is American. What each requires and which one holds up with CRA, the courts and lenders.
Selling a Healthcare, Dental, or Veterinary Practice in BC
What dental, medical and veterinary practices sell for in BC, who the colleges allow to buy, and why owner dependence drives the price.
Normalized EBITDA and Add-Backs Explained
How normalized EBITDA works, which add-backs buyers accept, and why a well-documented schedule is worth real money on the price.
Section 85 Rollover Valuations: Getting Fair Market Value Right
Every section 85 rollover rests on one number: the fair market value of what you transferred. Here is what CRA expects, why a price adjustment clause is not a substitute for real valuation work, and when a CBV-prepared valuation protects your election.
Customer Concentration and Business Value: What Owners Should Know
Customer concentration is one of the most common drivers of valuation discounts in private company sales. Learn how buyers and lenders measure and price it.
Business Valuation in the BC Interior: Kamloops, the Okanagan, and the Cariboo
Valuing a business in Kamloops, the Okanagan, or the Cariboo? Learn the regional drivers, comparables challenges, and structural considerations.
Business valuation for succession planning and estate freezes
A business valuation is the foundation of every succession plan. Learn how valuations support estate freezes under Section 86, management buyouts, family transitions, and phased ownership transfers.
Business valuation methods explained: income, market, and asset approaches
CBV Institute recognizes three primary approaches to business valuation. Learn how the income, market, and asset approaches work and when each applies.
Business valuation for divorce and family law in BC
When a marriage ends and one spouse owns a business, the value of that interest becomes central to property division under BC’s Family Law Act. Learn how business valuations work in divorce proceedings.
EBITDA multiples by industry in Canada
EBITDA multiples are the most commonly referenced benchmark in Canadian mid-market transactions. See typical ranges by industry and what drives multiples higher or lower.
Fair market value vs fair value in Canadian business valuation
Fair market value and fair value produce different numbers for the same business. The standard of value determines how much tax you owe, what a departing shareholder receives, or what a court awards. Learn when each applies.
When do you need a business valuation? 10 situations that require one
Most business owners do not think about valuation until a transaction, dispute, or tax filing demands one. Here are ten situations where a professional business valuation is necessary.
How Do Buyers Value Owner-Managed Businesses?
Buyers do not value owner-managed businesses based on revenue alone. They assess earnings quality, risk, transferability, growth prospects, and how dependent the company is on the owner.
How Businesses Are Valued in Canada: SDE, EBITDA, Revenue and When Each Method Applies
A practical guide to the main valuation methods used for private businesses in Canada, including SDE, EBITDA, revenue multiples, and asset-based valuation, and which approach applies to your type of business.
Who our insights are for
Our articles are written for owner-managed and privately held businesses, founders and shareholders, management teams, and the accountants and legal advisors who support them.
The objective is not to provide generic market commentary. It is to deliver decision-oriented content tied to the situations that small to mid-market private companies in BC and Alberta commonly face.
Related advisory services
The issues discussed in our Insights section often connect directly to our advisory work.
Business valuation
Independent valuation advice for transaction, planning, financing, shareholder, and compliance-related purposes.
Business sales & acquisitions
Advisory on business sales, acquisitions, ownership transitions, unsolicited offers, and broader strategic transaction matters.
Explore Business Sales & Acquisitions
Debt & capital advisory
Advice on acquisition financing, refinancing initiatives, recapitalizations, growth capital, and broader business financing matters.
Mike Busch, CPA, CBV · Managing Partner
Mike brings nearly a decade of experience across investment banking, corporate finance, valuations, and restructuring. Earlier in his career, Mike advised businesses across Canada and the United States on transactions ranging from business sales and acquisitions to capital raises, refinancings, and corporate restructurings at Big Four firms and mid-market investment banks. Mike is a member of CPABC and CBV Institute.
Discuss a valuation, financing, or M&A matter
If you are evaluating a business sale, acquisition, refinancing initiative, recapitalization, financing process, unsolicited offer, or valuation assignment, we welcome a confidential discussion.
KitsWest Capital
595 Howe Street, Suite 306
Vancouver, BC V6C 2T5
Advising owner-managed and privately held businesses across British Columbia and Alberta.
Our associations
Our principals are members of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) and CBV Institute. KitsWest Capital is a member of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.
