Lexata note: changes to this section effective April 14, 2022 are shown in green (additions) and redline (deletions).
(1) An issuer is required to provide historical financial statements under Item 32 of Form 41-101F1 for a business or related businesses that a reasonable investor would regard as the primary business of the issuer. The issuer is also required to include the applicable MD&A for the primary business.
However, if the issuer is a reporting issuer whose principal assets are not cash, cash equivalents or an exchange listing, and the acquisition of the primary business represents a significant acquisition for the issuer, the reporting issuer is subject to the requirements of Item 35 of Form 41-101F1, and not Item 32 of Form 41-101F1, in respect of the financial statements and other disclosure for the that acquisition.
An acquisition does not include a reverse takeover, as defined in NI 41-101 which cross-references the meaning of acquisition as used in Part 8 of NI 51-102. Therefore A reporting issuer cannot rely on the exemption in subsection 32.1(2) of Form 41-101F1 if the applicable transaction is a reverse takeover. In such circumstances, the reverse takeover acquirer would be considered the primary business under either paragraph 32.1(1)(a) or (b) of Form 41-101F1.
Examples of when a reasonable investor would regard the primary business of the issuer or businesses acquired, or proposed to be acquired, to be the acquired primary business or related businesses of the issuer, thereby triggering the application of Item 32 of Form 41-101F1 are when the acquisition(s) was or will be
(a) a reverse takeover,
(b) a qualifying transaction for a Capital Pool Company, or under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange,
(c) a qualifying acquisition or qualification transaction by a special purpose acquisition corporation under the policies of a recognized exchange,
(d) an acquisition that satisfies any of the applicable significance tests set out in subsection 8.3(2) of NI 51-102 if “30 percent” is a significant acquisition at over the read as 100% level under subsection 35.1(4) of Form 41-101F1 percent (see example 1 below).
(e) an acquisition that results in a fundamental change in the primary business of the issuer, as disclosed in the prospectus (see example 2 below).
For paragraph (d), if the issuer qualifies as an IPO venture issuer, it should refer to paragraphs 8.3(2)(a) and (b) of NI 51-102 for the applicable significance tests.
An issuer may re-calculate the significance of a transaction using the optional significance tests set out in subsection 8.3(4) of NI 51-102, and should refer to paragraph 35.1(4)(b) of Form 41-101F1, except (i) and (ii), for the applicable financial periods and references.
For any proposed acquisition, the issuer should refer to the guidance in subsection 5.9(3) of this Policy to determine whether a reasonable person would believe that the likelihood of the acquisition being completed is high.
In addition to the above,the issuer should consider the facts of each situation to, including the facts of the business or related businesses acquired or proposed to be acquired, and determine whether a reasonable investor would regard the primary business of the issuer to be the acquired business or related businesses.
The disclosure in the prospectus, including financial statements and applicable MD&A, must satisfy the requirement that the long form prospectus contain full, true and plain disclosure of all material facts relating to the securities being distributed.
Example 1: A non-venture issuer completed an acquisition exceeding the 100% threshold for any of the significance tests in the year prior to its most recently completed financial year
Facts:
- A non-venture issuer filed a preliminary IPO prospectus on April 1, 2021 that included audited annual financial statements for its financial year ended December 31, 2020.
- The issuer disclosed in the prospectus that it had completed Acquisition A on October 1, 2019.
- Both the issuer and Acquisition A have a December 31 year-end.
The initial determination of the significance of an acquisition would be calculated based on the financial statements of the issuer and the acquired business or related businesses for the most recently completed financial year of each that ended before the acquisition date. In this case, the significance tests would be based on the most recently completed financial year before the acquisition date (i.e., December 31, 2018) — applying paragraph 35.1(4)(b) of Form 41-101F1 for the purposes of the periods used for the calculation.
Initial tests: Significance tests results based on the most recently completed financial year before the acquisition date (i.e., December 31, 2018)
- The following is a summary of certain key information:
| Entity | Assets | Investments | Specified profit or loss |
| Issuer | $ 100 | n/a | $ 8 |
| Acquisition A | $ 125 | $ 80 | $ 7 |
| Significance tests results | 125% | 80% | 87.5% |
Acquisition A is regarded to be the primary business of the issuer because it exceeded the 100% threshold for the asset test.
In some circumstances, an issuer may have grown between the date on which the significance tests are calculated and the date of the IPO such that the acquisition is no longer significant enough for a reasonable investor to regard the acquisition as the primary business of the issuer. An issuer could demonstrate this by testing significance using optional significance tests as set out in subsection 8.3(4) of NI 51-102, for the periods set out in subparagraphs 35.1(4)(b)(iii) and (iv) of Form 41-101F1. In this specific example, the applicable time period for the optional significance tests is the year-ended December 31, 2020 for both the issuer and Acquisition A.
We note that financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 for Acquisition A are required for the issuer to use the optional significance tests, which can only be used by the issuer after the acquisition date if the business remained substantially intact and was not significantly reorganized, and no significant assets or liabilities were transferred to other entities, as set out in subsection 8.3(6) of NI 51-102.
Optional significance tests: Significance tests results based on the most recently completed financial year (i.e., as at December 31, 2020)
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- The following is a summary of certain key information:
| Entity | Assets | Investments | Specified profit or loss |
| Issuer (excluding Acquisition A) | $ 150 | n/a | $ 15 |
| Acquisition A | $ 117 | $ 80 | $ 7 |
| Significance tests results | 78.0% | 53.3% | 46.7% |
Application of paragraph 32.1(1)(b) of Form 41-101F1:
- Although Acquisition A exceeds the 100% threshold for the asset test using the initial significance tests, by applying the optional significance tests, the issuer may be able to demonstrate that a reasonable investor would not regard Acquisition A to be the primary business of the issuer.
- In this circumstance, the issuer experienced growth subsequent to acquiring Acquisition A such that Acquisition A no longer exceeds the 100% threshold. As a result, a reasonable investor would not regard Acquisition A to be the primary business of the issuer. Therefore, the issuer would not be required to provide historical financial statements of Acquisition A under Item 32 of Form 41-101F1.
- However, if the issuer applied the optional significance tests and Acquisition A still exceeded the 100% threshold for any of the significance tests, the issuer would have been required to provide audited financial statements of Acquisition A for enough periods so that when those periods are added to the periods for which the issuer’s financial statements are included in the prospectus, the results of the issuer and Acquisition A, either separately or on a consolidated basis, total 3 years. This means that the issuer would have been required to include in the IPO prospectus:
- its audited consolidated financial statements for each of the 3 years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, which include the results of Acquisition A from October 1, 2019 onwards, and
- the audited standalone financial statements of Acquisition A for the period from January 1, 2019 to September 30, 2019, and for the year-ended December 31, 2018.
Example 2: An issuer has recently changed its primary business through the acquisition of a new business and the acquisition does not meet the 100% threshold for any of the significance tests.
Facts:
- An IPO venture issuer filed a preliminary IPO prospectus on April 1, 2021.
- The issuer was incorporated on January 1, 2015 to operate a mining exploration and development business.
- On December 19, 2020, the issuer acquired a cannabis cultivation property and announced its intention to convert its existing business to a cannabis cultivation business in 2021.
- The year end of the issuer and the acquired cannabis cultivation business is December 31.
Application of paragraph 32.1(1)(b) of Form 41-101F1:
- To meet the requirements of paragraph 32.1(1)(b) of Form 41-101F1, the issuer must include in the prospectus its audited financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.
- In addition, given that the issuer has fundamentally changed its primary business to cannabis cultivation activities, the pre-acquisition financial statements for the acquired cannabis cultivation business (along with the related MD&A) must also be included in the prospectus.
- This is because a reasonable investor reading the prospectus would regard the primary business of the issuer to be the cannabis cultivation business, as referenced in paragraph 32.1(1)(b) of Form 41-101F1.
(2) The periods for which the issuer must provide financial statements under Item 32 of Form 41-101F1 for an acquired business or related businesses that are regarded as the primary business of the issuer should be determined in reference to sections 32.2 and 32.3 of Form 41-101F1, and with the same exceptions, where applicable, set out in paragraphs 32.4(1) (a) through (e) of Form 41-101F1. For example, for an issuer that is a reporting issuer in at least one jurisdiction immediately before filing a long form prospectus, the reference to three 3 years in subparagraph 32.2(6)(a) of Form 41-101F1 should be read as two 2 years under paragraphs 32.4(1) (a), (b), (d) and (e) of Form 41-101F1.
In addition, subsection 32.2(6) of Form 41-101F1 requires an issuer to include the financial statements for those entities or businesses set out in paragraphs 32.1(1)(a) and (b) of Form 41-101F1 for as many periods before the acquisition as may be necessary. This is so that when these periods are added to the periods for which the issuer’s financial statements are included in the prospectus, the results of the entities or businesses, either separately or on a consolidated basis, total the required number of annual periods (2 or 3 years). These financial statements must be audited.
The issuer must also consider the necessity of including pro forma financial statements pursuant to section 32.7 of Form 41-101F1 to illustrate the impact of the acquisition of the primary business on the issuer’s financial position and results of operations. For additional guidance, an issuer should refer to section 5.10 of this Policy.
(3) Reporting issuers are reminded that an acquisition may constitute the acquisition of a business for securities legislation purposes, even if the acquired set of activities or assets does not meet the definition of a “business” for accounting purposes.