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Constellation Software has become one of Canada’s biggest publicly traded technology companies by playing the acquisition game a very different way than most. Rather than seeking large deals that transform the company, chief executive officer Mark Leonard has built a business by constantly buying small software companies for a few million dollars apiece.
Constellation Software has become one of Canada’s biggest publicly traded technology companies by playing the acquisition game a very different way than most. Rather than seeking large deals that transform the company, chief executive officer Mark Leonard has built a business by constantly buying small software companies for a few million dollars apiece.
(Frank Gunn/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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The man with a Midas touch for acquisitions

BOYD ERMAN

 — The Globe and Mail

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‘Tis the season for awards – news maker of the year, chief executive of the year – so here is a nominee for acquirer of the year.

It is probably not a stretch to say this candidate would have to be in the running as Canada’s acquirer of the decade, which makes it all the more incredible that not one of the dozens and dozens of deals he has made has ever landed on the front page of the Report on Business. Just two have even made the paper at all.