2007 Was a Record Year for the Canadian M&A Market

Last year saw a 44% increase over 2006 to complete C$370-billion worth of deals, and 1,941 transactions in total, thereby making 2007 a record year for the Canadian M&A market. Some of the country’s largest deals ever, such as the C$51-billion buyout of BCE Inc. (BCE) and a C$40-billion deal for Alcan Inc. (AL), were major contributors, according to the Financial Post Crosbie: Mergers & Acquisitions in Canada report for the fourth quarter of 2007.

There were 60 “mega-deals” or transactions in excess of C$1-billion worth C$275-billion last year, which compares to 51 valued at C$172-billion in 2006.

Leading the way in the fourth quarter were deals in the financial services sector. TD Bank’s (TD) C$8.5-billion purchase of Commerce Bancorp (CBH) and Royal Bank’s (RY) C$2.2-billion acquisition of RBTT Financial were the largest.

Meanwhile, Penn West Energy Trust’s (PWE) C$5.2-billion buyout of Canetic Resources Trust (CNE) and IBM’s (IBM) C$4.7-billion bid for Cognos (COGN) were also highlighted in the report.

Comments

[David V.]

According to www.madmergers.com CBH is trading at a 1.11% discount (10.79% annualized). Under the agreement, Commerce shareholders will receive 0.4142 shares of a TD common share and US$10.50 in cash in exchange for each common share of Commerce Bancorp Inc. You can view all the merger arbitrage returns for all pending stock mergers for free at www.madmergers.com .