MONEY: Canadian M&A activity flat through three quarters

NEW YORK – The latest analysis of Canadian merger and acquisition information compiled by Mergermarket indicates that such activity remained relatively stable in the first three quarters of 2016. So far this year there were 439 deals worth US$63.7 billion, up 0.7% from the same period last year (US$63.3 billion). The value of deals this year was boosted by Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan’s US$18.4 billion offer to acquire Agrium. That represents 28.9% of the value of all deals. There was another mega-deal last year, Enbridge Income Fund Holdings’ US$24.7 billion purchase of renewable assets from its parent company Enbridge Inc. Mergermarket determined that if these two transactions are excluded, activity in Q1 to Q3 2016 actually increased by 17.6%, even though there were 50 fewer deals this year. The top sector by M&A value through September 2016 was industrials and chemicals (including the PotashCorp deal) where 62 deals worth a total of US$20.5 billion were made, more than five times the amount in 2015 (US$3.3 billion in 65 deals). Energy, mining and utilities, usually the top Canadian sector, fell to second place by value with 103 deals worth US$17.4 billion. The full report can be read at the Mergermarket website.