The Toronto-headquartered IP firm will be folded into Smart & Biggar
IPH Limited has acquired Bereskin & Parr for $82.5 million — the latest in a string of deals by the international network of intellectual property service providers.
Bereskin & Parr will be folded into Smart & Biggar to form a single firm, according to an announcement by IPH on Thursday. Bereskin & Parr is headquartered in Toronto with offices in Mississauga, Waterloo, and Montreal.
Stuart Wood, who will join IPH as Canadian regional chief executive officer in September, says the two firms are “very complementary” and, in combination, will become a “very strong market-leading presence in Canada.”
Stephen Beney, managing partner at Bereskin & Parr, said in a statement, “We have always prided ourselves on delivering first-rate IP services, and now, as part of a larger combined firm and with the support of a global network, we can offer our clients even greater value and provide our people with enhanced career opportunities.”
The two firms will continue to operate independently until the transaction is complete, which is expected to be September 27.
The deal with Bereskin & Parr represents IPH’s fourth acquisition in Canada in two years. The company acquired ROBIC in November and Ridout & Maybee last summer. Smart & Biggar was the network’s first acquisition outside of the Asia-Pacific region, joining IPH in 2022.
In May, IPH lost a bid to acquire QANTM Intellectual Property, which owns a series of intellectual property firms operating in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. In an announcement about the loss, IPH said that it “remains committed to pursuing strategic and financially accretive M&A, which has long been a core pillar of IPH’s growth strategy and will continue regularly assessing a range of potential transactions.”
“By combining Bereskin & Parr with Smart & Biggar we are creating one larger, more robust firm that we believe will set new standards of excellence in the Canadian IP industry,” Andrew Blattman, IPH managing director and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
“We are excited to see the Bereskin & Parr business, and its clients and staff, continue as part of Smart & Biggar and the IPH group,” Blattman added.
