MANAGEMENT'S REPORT

The accompanying consolidated financial statements of Clairvest Group Inc. were prepared by management, which is responsible for the integrity and fairness of the financial information presented. These consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. The financial information contained elsewhere in the annual report has been reviewed to ensure consistency with the consolidated financial statements.

Management maintains a system of internal accounting controls designed to provide reasonable assurance that assets are safeguarded, that transactions are properly authorized and that financial records are properly maintained to facilitate the preparation of consolidated financial statements in a timely manner. Under the supervision of management, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting was carried out for the year ended March 31, 2023. Based on that evaluation, management concluded that the Company's internal control over financing reporting was effective for the year ended March 31, 2023.

The Board of Directors carries out its responsibility for the consolidated financial statements in this annual report principally through its Audit Committee. The Audit Committee, which comprised three non-management Directors during the year ended March 31, 2023, meets periodically with management and with external auditors to discuss the scope and results with respect to financial reporting of the Company. The Audit Committee has reviewed the consolidated financial statements with management and with the independent auditors. The consolidated financial statements have been approved by the Board of Directors on the recommendation of the Audit Committee.

Ernst & Young LLP, appointed external auditors by the shareholders, have audited the consolidated financial statements and their report is included herewith.

B. Jeffrey Parr

Daniel Cheng

Vice Chairman

Chief Financial Officer

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT

TO THE SHAREHOLDERS OF CLAIRVEST GROUP INC.

OPINION

We have audited the consolidated financial statements of Clairvest Group Inc. and its subsidiaries [the "Company"], which comprise the consolidated statements of financial position as at March 31, 2023 and 2022, and the consolidated statements of comprehensive income, consolidated statements of changes in shareholders' equity and consolidated statements of cash flows for the years then ended, and notes to the consolidated financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies.

In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of the Company as at March 31, 2023 and 2022, and its consolidated financial performance and its consolidated cash flows for the years then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ["IFRSs"].

BASIS FOR OPINION

We conducted our audit in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the consolidated financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the consolidated financial statements in Canada, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

KEY AUDIT MATTERS

Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in the audit of the consolidated financial statements of the current period. These matters were addressed in the context of the audit of the consolidated financial statements as a whole, and in forming the auditor's opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters. For the matter below, our description of how our audit addressed the matter is provided in that context.

We have fulfilled the responsibilities described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the consolidated financial statements section of our report, including in relation to this matter. Accordingly, our audit included the performance of procedures designed to respond to our assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements. The results of our audit procedures, including the procedures performed to address the matter below, provide the basis for our audit opinion on the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT

Key audit matter

How our audit addressed the key audit matter

Fair value measurement of corporate investments based on unobservable inputs

The Company describes its critical accounting estimates, assumptions and judgment in relation to the fair value measurement of financial instruments in note 2 to the consolidated financial statements. As disclosed in note 18 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has corporate investments of $891.7 million recorded at fair value. Of these, $822.7 million relates to corporate investments where fair value is based on unobservable inputs and are classified as Level 3 financial instruments within the fair value hierarchy.

Auditing the fair value of Level 3 corporate investments requires the application of significant auditor judgment in assessing the valuation techniques and unobservable inputs utilized by the Company. Certain valuation inputs used to determine fair value that may be unobservable include the multiple of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ["EBITDA"] or revenue and the estimated adjusted EBITDA or revenue. The use of different valuation techniques and assumptions could produce significantly different estimates of fair value.

Our audit procedures included, among others, evaluating the Company's valuation techniques and testing the significant inputs and assumptions utilized by the Company, including related disclosures. With the assistance of our valuation specialists, we evaluated the Company's valuation techniques and assessed whether these valuation techniques were reasonable based on the characteristics of the investee company, such as the operations, industry sector and market activity. We also assessed whether the unobservable inputs and assumptions identified by the Company are relevant and provided a reasonable basis for the fair value measurement.

The most significant and judgmental unobservable inputs impacting the fair value measurement are the multiple of EBITDA or revenue and the estimated adjusted EBITDA or revenue for the relevant investee company. Our audit procedures included, among others:

  • Where the multiple of EBITDA or revenue is based on public guideline companies, we reviewed business descriptions of guideline companies selected by management and evaluated if they were reasonable based on the business of the investee company. Where applicable, we performed an independent search for additional guideline companies to benchmark and incorporate trends in the broader industry that impact the fair value measurement.
  • Where the multiple of EBITDA or revenue is based on a multiple at which the Company invested in the investee company, on follow-on investments or financings, or on partial realization in the investee company, we re- calculated the multiple using the transaction details and assessed whether the transaction continued to be representative of fair value.
  • We assessed the estimated adjusted EBITDA or revenue based on recent financial information of the investee company, including the most recent audited financial statements, where applicable.
  • Our assessment of the multiple of EBITDA or revenue and estimated adjusted EBITDA or revenue was also based on certain qualitative factors, including the size and stage of the investee company, nature of business of guideline companies compared to the investee company, developments of the investee company, current economic environment and any relevant subsequent events.

3

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT

OTHER INFORMATION

Management is responsible for the other information. The other information comprises:

  • Management's Discussion and Analysis
  • The information, other than the consolidated financial statements and our auditor's report thereon, in the Annual Report

Our opinion on the consolidated financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the consolidated financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the consolidated financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF MANAGEMENT AND THOSE CHARGED WITH GOVERNANCE FOR THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRSs, and for such internal control as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the consolidated financial statements, management is responsible for assessing the Company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless management either intends to liquidate the Company or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Those charged with governance are responsible for overseeing the Company's financial reporting process.

AUDITORS' RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these consolidated financial statements.

As part of an audit in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:

  • Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT

  • Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control.
  • Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by management.
  • Conclude on the appropriateness of management's use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor's report to the related disclosures in the consolidated financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor's report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Company to cease to continue as a going concern.
  • Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the consolidated financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the consolidated financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

We also provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.

From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the consolidated financial statements of the current period and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in our auditor's report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a matter should not be communicated in our report because the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication.

The engagement partner on the audit resulting in this independent auditor's report is Gregory Murphy.

Toronto, Canada

June 26, 2023

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Clairvest Group Inc. published this content on 27 June 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 27 June 2023 00:35:06 UTC.