The total value of Canadian mergers and acquisitions in 2013 was $162 billion, down 26% from 2012, according to new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Total M&A activity in 2013's fourth quarter was $44 billion – a 20% drop from the same period a year ago.
According to the report – "Capital Markets Flash: Canadian M&A Deals Quarterly" – the top performing sectors in Q4 2013 were utilities, real estate, energy and life sciences (which includes the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors).
The largest deal in Q4 was Fortis Inc.'s (TSX:FTS) purchase of UNS Energy Corp. (NYSE:UNS) for $4.3 billion.
In British Columbia-related transactions, the largest and only deal in Q4 was Progress Energy Corp.'s purchase of a portion of Talisman Energy Inc.'s (TSX:TLM) land in the Montney region in the northeast of the province.
Neither Talisman nor Progress is based in B.C., however.
"The trends from across Canada are generally mirrored in B.C. I think the deal volume has been steady but where we are impacted more is the B.C. has a concentration of mining companies, particularly exploration companies," said Philip Heywood, managing director of transaction services at PwC.
"With the lack of deals in that sector I think that is impacting our B.C. M&A stats. Particularly, there has been a lack of large deals in B.C., probably more so than the rest of the country because historically the large deals have been in the mining sector."
