Deals by foreign buyers near $40-billion, set to eclipse last year’s pace – by Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – August 6, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Acquisitions in Canada by foreign buyers are already approaching the dollar value for all of 2018, as confidence in the economy trumps rising global trade tension and a dearth of deals in the oil patch.

Deals announced in the first half of 2019 topped $39.3-billion, only slightly less than the $40.2-billion worth of deals in all of 2018, a year considered to have been brisk for deal-making by foreigners, according to figures from the law firm Torys LLP.

Based on announced transactions and those the firm knows are being discussed, it is shaping up to be a strong year, though it is too early to predict a record, said Cornell Wright, co-head of Torys’ mergers and acquisitions practice.

The first-half figures were skewed somewhat by one very large transaction: Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp.’s US$10-billion takeover of Vancouver’s Goldcorp Inc., Mr. Wright said. That deal proceeded after Barrick Gold Corp. decided in March against a plan to acquire Newmont – now called Newmont Goldcorp Corp.

“M&A is driven principally by confidence and confidence remains high. You’ve got a good macro environment, and you’ve got great targets and great opportunities in Canada,” Mr. Wright said.

For the rest of this article: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-takeovers-by-foreign-buyers-set-to-eclipse-value-of-deals-in-all-of/