August 2025

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping M&A. From sourcing to diligence and integration, AI is changing how deals are identified, assessed, and executed.

At Morrison Park Advisors, we are closely tracking this evolution and adopting tools that enhance the speed, accuracy, and depth of our analysis while preserving the judgment and rigour that define our advisory approach.

AI in the Broader Capital Landscape

Investment in AI is requiring, and attracting, massive amounts of capital. The Big Four and the Big Tech firms have recently reported total investment in excess of USD 350 million for fiscal 2025, much of it dedicated to AI offerings and infrastructure.

Canada is recognized as a global leader in the AI revolution, with significant intellectual centres of excellence in Toronto and elsewhere. To capitalize on that advantage, we will need to address the significant policy challenges that have inhibited capital formation in Canada over the past fifteen years, including the outsized scale of our financial sector relative to the economy, the investment mandates of our largest asset managers, and the gradual decline of our public capital markets.

Key Developments in AI-Driven M&A

• Smarter Sourcing: AI platforms can quickly scan markets to identify targets or buyers that fit specific strategic criteria.

• Faster Diligence: Natural language tools review contracts, financials, and compliance documents in hours rather than days, surfacing red flags automatically and reducing transaction risk.

• Improved Valuation: AI models benchmark performance, test assumptions, and support real time scenario planning.

• Post-Merger Integration: AI can map dependencies, plan integration more effectively, and improve synergy realization.

What This Means for Our Clients

In the M&A business, AI presents a significant opportunity to accelerate and improve the documentation and diligence process, which should significantly reduce transaction risk, enhancing returns and valuations for buyers and sellers. If done thoughtfully, automation will allow for redeployment of human diligence to the more critical matters in an M&A transaction, including strategic, cultural, and product market fit.

We believe the future of M&A is human-led, AI-enhanced.

“We have to be careful as we automate these processes that we retain the human element. My hope would be that if we can outsource a lot of the ticking and bopping of live links and all those other kinds of things, we can actually focus the due diligence on what’s important which is product market fit, strategic fit, and all of the things that make deals live or die. If we can have these tools support us in making decisions, allocating risk, negotiating value, then that’s an authentic use of the technology”
— Brent Walker, Chief Executive Officer, Morrison Park Advisors