Energy is busy globally for deal making, but the pace of merger and acquisition transactions in Canada's energy patch has slowed down from 2009.
With most of the year behind us, there have been 263 deals worth about $32.7-billion involving Canadian oil and gas companies in 2010, according to Bloomberg figures. In 2009, there were 578 transactions worth almost $82-billion (including an elephant -- the takeover of Petro-Canada by Suncor Inc.).
Investment banks have been staffing up in Calgary, meaning there's more bankers in a dogfight for business with less to go around. Who's winning?
Some of the firms that have renewed focus on Calgary have seen dividends. JP Morgan, for example, is the No. 2 bank in the Bloomberg rankings of energy advisers after a big expansion in Calgary. And TD Securities, which has put a big emphasis on winning business from emerging clients, is No. 1.
TD has made a top priority of earning mandates from clients who haven't historically been house accounts at any bank, and that has helped vault it into top spot by a big margin. TD has advised on 12 mergers or acquisitions worth $7.1-billion, according to Bloomberg.
JP Morgan hired a new managing director in Calgary and relocated people from Houston, as well as buying teams that gave it a 40-person energy trading operation. JP Morgan has advised on only 2 deals but they are worth $5.5-billion (U.S.), enough for the No. 2 spot.
Both TD and JP Morgan were players in the biggest deal of this week, the $2.3-billion sale of a stake in an oil sands project to a Thai buyer. JP Morgan was the sole adviser to the acquirer, PTT Exploration and Production. TD and Morgan Stanley advised seller Statoil ASA.