2013 started off slowly with a downturn in Q1, and Q4 brought
the year to a close with mixed results. M&A activity in Canada
resulted in 567 deals valued at US $71.8 billion. The year was the
slowest by deal value since 2004 (US $42.3 billion); by contrast,
deal count was the highest it has been on Mergermarket record since 2001.
What brought about these mixed results?
Transactions valued over US $250 million were scarce. 42
large-cap transactions, worth US $54.4 billion, were completed in
2013. However, this number represented the lowest (in deals and in
value) since 2004, when the same number of transactions represented
US $29.4 billion.
The Energy, Mining & Utilities sector has historically been
a heavy-hitter when it comes to large-cap transactions in Canada,
but this year the market share fell 17.8%. Instead the consumer
sector (representing US $19.1 billion) reigned supreme.
