Art Baker is an accomplished corporate development and finance professional with 15+ years of experience and is currently the Chief Strategy Officer at Smart Start, a leading ignition interlock device provider. Art’s areas of expertise include financial modeling, valuation, M&A, operational finance, budgeting, forecasting, capital markets, negotiations and new business development. He is an active member of professional community and served on the board of Financial Executives International.
Previously Art was the Strategy and Business Development Manager for General Motors whose market cap exceeds $50 billion. He was also a Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions in Capital Markets for the Royal Bank of Canada where he was directly responsible for sourcing, diligencing and executing over 25 transactions. He started his career working for the Yukos Oil Company in Moscow and Direct Energy in Toronto.
Education:
Art possesses a Bachelor of Science in Business from Oklahoma City University, an Ph.D. Degree in Economics from Moscow State University, Russia, and an MBA from the University of Toronto, Canada. He passed all three levels of the CFA Program.
Transaction Highlights:
- Investment of $500 million in the ride sharing company Lyft
- Financial assessment and negotiation of GM’s powertrain IP licensing to an Asian party
- Co-development of transmissions with first-tier automotive company (post-signing execution)
- Vehicle co-development with international automotive company (post-signing execution)
- Unsolicited offer to acquire Inmet Mining by First Quantum Minerals for $5.1 billion (#1 North American mining deal in 2012)
- Sale of 15% interest in ArcelorMittal Mines Canada to a consortium led by POSCO and CSC for $1.1 billion (#1 global iron ore deal in 2012/13)
- Acquisition of Afexa Life Sciences by Valeant Pharmaceuticals for $92 million
- Acquisition of TimberWest by bcIMC and PSP Investments for $1.0 billion (#1 global forestry deal in 2011 and 2012)
- Sale of Fronteer Gold to Newmont Mining for $2.3 billion (#1 North American gold deal in 2011)
- Sale of a minority interest in Optech to Teledyne Technologies
- Acquisition of Baffinland Iron Mines by ArcelorMittal for $500 million
- Acquisition of Norsemont Mining by HudBay Minerals for $435 million
- Acquisition of 50% in project Renard by Stornoway Diamond Corporation for $167 million
- Sale of wealth management companies Partners in Planning and Titan to Investment Planning
- Sale of National Leasing (leading independent Canadian leasing company) to Canadian Western Bank for $130 million
- Acquisition of a fuel retailer Bluewave Energy for $214 million by Parkland
- Financial restructuring of a military protection equipment manufacturer Allen-Vanguard
- Sale of Arawak Energy to Vitol Group for $245 million
- Acquisition of uranium company Aurora Energy Resources by Fronteer Gold for $85 million
- Sale of a flour milling company Dover Industries for $158 million to a Parrish & Heimbecker
- Sale of Fording to Teck Resources for $14 billion (#1 North American mining deal in 2008)
- Sale of broadcast equipment manufacturer ATX Networks to Trivest Partners
- Sale of 15% interest in the Joslyn oil sands project to Occidental Petroleum for $500 million
- Buy-side of Husky Injection Molding Systems (world’s largest brand name supplier of injection molding equipment to the plastics industry) by Onex for $1 billion
- Sale of Alcan to Rio Tinto for $44 billion (#1 North American mining deal of all times)
- Acquisition of fuel retailer Neufeld Petroleum by Parkland for $135 million