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Bloomberg
Canadian dealmaking is extending its boom, as a bidding war between two railway operators contributes to a tripling in mergers and acquisitions volumes.
Companies from Canada have been involved in $184 billion of transactions this year, including agreed deals and more preliminary proposals, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s up 198% on the same point in 2020 and the most for any corresponding period on record, the data show.
The latest blockbuster bid came, when Canadian National Railway Co. made a $30 billion offer for Kansas City Southern to gain a sprawling transport network connecting US farms to ports on the Gulf of Mexico. It’s seeking to snatch a deal away from rival Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., which agreed last month to buy Kansas City Southern for about $25 billion.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc., one of Canada’s most active dealmakers, reached a $6.5 billion agreement earlier this month to buy out minority investors in its listed real estate arm. Just last week, Bank of Montreal announced the sale of some overseas asset-management operations to Ameriprise
Financial Inc. for $859 million.
More deals are in the works. A consortium including Canadian pension fund Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec is nearing an agreement to acquire French state railway company SNCF’s leasing unit Ermewa Group, reports said.
A transaction deal could value Ermewa at more than 3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), according to the people.