Looking up

摘要

TOTAL MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS (M&A) ACTIVITY in Canada was underwhelming in 2012, but, for the oil and gas sector, 2012 eventually shaped up as a bit of a catchup year. At the end of the third quarter, the total value of oil and gas M&As was $45 billion, up from a total of $15.6 billion for all of 2011. And a busy fourth quarter was expected at the time of writing. "Volatility in commodity prices impacted the alignment between the market on the buy side and the value expectations on the sell side in 2011," says Mark McMurray, managing director of RBC Rundle. "In 2012, particularly in the latter part of this year, there was a clearer line of sight around pricing, so that's helped get some transactions that perhaps were stalled in 2011 to the finish line." Foreign interests in Canadian oil and gas assets garnered a lot of attention near the end of 2012. A $5.3-billion bid by Malaysian national oil company PETRONAS for Canada's Progress Energy Resources Corp. failed to pass the Canadian government's net-benefit test on its first round. And China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Limited's $15-billion bid for Nexen Inc. was in extended review by the Canadian government, which promised a decision on December 11.