Topic: Infrastructure, mining and commodities

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Diamond In The Rough: Mining as a potential bright spot in M&A

The mining sector has been one of the few bright spots in Canadian M&A since the COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed the landscape for transactions, with several large deals announced and continuing despite the pandemic. As with other business sectors, mining has been significantly impacted by regulations and the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic. However … Continue reading

Ready to rock! 2019 may see increased M&A activity among Canadian mining companies

2018 was a difficult year for Canadian mining companies. The aggregate valuation of TSX-listed miners declined by 12.7%, while equity capital raised by these companies declined by 36% from the previous year’s total. In this environment, new financings and deals have been scarce, but there is reason to believe that this trend might change in … Continue reading

Beware the zombie invasion (stock exchange edition)

On September 18, Deloitte released a new report which outlines a roadmap for the competitive business climate in Canada. Included in the report is a warning that “Canada may have a zombie problem.” Luckily, Deloitte isn’t raising concern about hordes of flesh-eating undead, but rather the relatively large number of “zombie companies” that exist on … Continue reading

Note to investors: tariffs and opportunities abound in metals and manufacturing

Global trade tensions continue to be a source of uncertainty. The role of the United States as one of the most influential economies across the globe has presented limitations on the ability of many business sectors to easily absorb the trickle down effects of recent trade tariffs implemented by the Trump Administration. While this seems … Continue reading

Q1 2018 review: record deal values for the power and utilities sector

A recent report by Ernst & Young (the Report) has concluded that the power and utilities (P&U)  is thriving, as global deal value in the first quarter of 2018 reached an all-time high of US$97 billion. This rise has predominately been driven by mega-deals, with only 15 deals forming 90% of the total global deal value in the … Continue reading

Signs of optimism for mining, oil-and-gas M&A activity in 2018

Overall merger and acquisition deal value involving Canadian companies totalled $216.3 billion in 2017, which was approximately 14% lower than the $251.88 billion seen in 2016, which was a decade-high level. The fall in overall value was primarily caused by a 25% decline in energy deals, according to a report in Bloomberg, which resulted in … Continue reading

Trend report: increased M&A deal values across the Americas for Q1 2017

On April 25, Mergermarket released its Q1 2017 Regional Flash Reports describing the M&A climate, trends and developments throughout the Americas during the first quarter of 2017. The Canada’s Trend Report indicates that Canadian M&A has remained strong with 111 deals in Q1 2017 worth US$ 35.8bn. This is a robust start for 2017 as … Continue reading

The Canada Infrastructure Bank: big plans for big projects

Last month’s federal budget reaffirmed the government’s plans to establish a new Canada Infrastructure Bank (the Infrastructure Bank) and vest it with the responsibility of spending at least $35 billion in infrastructure over 11 years. The Infrastructure Bank is intended to pool public funds with private investments for infrastructure projects. Along the way, the Infrastructure … Continue reading

M&A considerations for resource issuers: Canada’s Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act

Canada’s Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA, or the Act) came into force on June 1, 2015. The Act imposes disclosure obligations on certain Canadian businesses engaged in the commercial development of oil, gas or minerals with respect to payments made to domestic and foreign governmental bodies. As we previously noted, Canadian businesses subject to … Continue reading

A global overview of M&A activity: August 2016

MergerMarket Group recently published its September edition of Monthly M&A Insider which reported on mergers and acquisitions activity around the world for the month of August 2016. More than two thirds into the year, August was no exception to the recent rather sluggish growth in M&A activity, especially compared to the record-breaking year for M&A … Continue reading

An overview of global M&A activity: 2015 into 2016

2015 was an extraordinary year for global M&A activity. Mergermarket recorded almost 17,000 transactions worth a remarkable US$4.3tn. This topped the previous record set in 2014 by over 30%. The race for top performing sector this year was very close. Energy Mining & Utilities won with US$630bn in deal value; however, the top performers were … Continue reading

Global M&A in the first half of 2015

Similarly to American M&A in the first half of 2015, the first half of 2015 was remarkably active on the global mergers and acquisitions front. According to a recent Mergermarket report, total deal value topped US$1.7 trillion. This represents an increase of 15.2% over the first six months of 2014, and only 15.4% behind the record-setting … Continue reading

M&A in Canada: industry revenue and profits

Expanding growth in nearly all sectors Norton Rose Fulbright focuses its services on 6 key industry sectors and, according to a study released recently by the Globe and Mail on Canadian corporations, almost all of these sectors have seen an expansion in revenue and most have seen growth in profits during the period from 2011 to … Continue reading

Canadian mining M&A in Q1 2015

The M&A results and in and they are decidedly mixed in respect of the Canadian mining industry for Q1 2015. Although total M&A transactions and financing was down worldwide, Canadian companies were the dominant players in those M&A transactions which did take place during the quarter, and Canadian companies also had a dominant position in … Continue reading

Mid-market deals dominate in Canadian M&A in Q1 2015

Crosbie & Company’s quarterly Canadian M&A Report has indicated an overall decline in activity for the first quarter of 2015, with total deal volume down 7% and total value down 46% from the previous quarter. Deal size Accounting for the decrease in deal value is the fact that the majority of transactions this quarter took place … Continue reading

M&A in Canada’s clean tech and energy innovation sector

The decrease in the price of oil and resulting available capital may create a surge of investment in cleantech, renewable energy and electricity in Ontario, and Queen’s Park appears to be doing all that it can to aid this East-bound capital flight. The Liberal government’s much publicized plan to liberalize the electricity sector and privatize … Continue reading

M&A in Q1 2015: the results are in

The Mergermarket Group has published its Monthly M&A Insider – April 2015 report outlining trends and developments in M&A activity worldwide for the first quarter of 2015. In North America, M&A activity continued on the upward trend set in 2014. The first quarter saw 1,116 deals valued at US $338.8 billion, which was a 11% … Continue reading

Oilpatch volatility may generate deal-making opportunities

According to some commentators, ongoing volatility in oil prices may result in increased M&A activity in the Canadian oilpatch. As recently reported in the Financial Post, John Chambers, CEO of Calgary-based investment boutique FirstEnergy Capital Corp., believes a revaluation of assets in the oil and gas sector may attract cross-border M&A activity from oil majors … Continue reading

Metals sector: a year in review and forecast for 2015

With Q4 2014 results in for the mining sector, industry focus can shift to what lies ahead in 2015. PwC recently released a report, “Metals Deals: Forging Ahead 2015 outlook and 2014 review” (the PwC Report) which includes a look back at the metals deal statistics in 2014 and provides some insight into what we … Continue reading

M&A trend summary: H2 2014

MergerMarket Group recently published its January edition of Monthly M&A Insider which reported on mergers and acquisitions activity around the world during the second half of 2014. Among other things, the report explains why 2014 was so hospitable to M&A activity, citing an improving economy, large cash reserves, low interest rates, and cheap financing as … Continue reading

Barrels of opportunity: M&A revival in oil and gas

Globally, the oil and gas sector is seeing an uptick in M&A activity. This could point to a significant rebound for the deal market, despite looming uncertainty owing to recent volatility in commodity prices. According to a recent Deloitte Oil & Gas Mergers and Acquisitions Report, the value of global oil and gas deals increased … Continue reading
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