Sluggish mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity hit B.C. hard in first quarter after transactions declined for a third consecutive quarter across Canada, according to a report released Friday (May 22) from Crosbie and Company.
The specialty investment firm determined domestic M&A activity in B.C. was valued at $2.2 billion during the first quarter of the year, dropping 52% compared with Q4 2014 when activity was worth $4.6 billion in the province.
Nationwide, 656 transactions were announced at a value of $45 billion. That’s a 45% decline in value from the previous quarter when $82 billion was exchanged amid 708 announced deals.
While transactions valued at $1 billion or more accounted for $26 billion in activity during the latest quarter, those so-called “megadeals” amounted to just eight transactions.
“The mid-market continues to be the foundation of Canadian M&A transaction volume with deals under $250 million representing 90% of all the transactions with disclosed values,” the report said.
“This is consistent with past trends in activity.”
The largest transaction in B.C. was Vancouver-based Tahoe Resources’ (TSX: THO) acquisition of Rio Alto Mining, a megadeal worth $1.3 billion.
