Canada invests $70m in Seymour Lake lithium project in Ontario
The lithium mine operated by Australia's Green Technology Metals could become the province's first lithium producer.
Big4 reports in Canada, 39 metals deals have been announced in 2011, including five transactions valued at US$50m or more. Iron ore was the most targeted resource in Canada and globally last quarter, accounting for nearly half (48%) of all Canadian deals and almost 22% of all global transactions in Q1. According to a new PwC report, the value of Canadian metals deals more than doubled year-over-year and a heightened pace of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity is expected for the balance of 2011.
So far, Canadian deal activity in Q2 2011 has built on the strength seen last quarter with Barrick Gold announcing the acquisition of Equinox Minerals for US$7.6 billion. Additionally, there were four more transactions valued at US$100 million or more. All of the above transactions are domestic deals between two Canadian-headquartered companies.
“Out of the 228 global transactions last quarter, 26 were valued at US$50 million or more. This is on par with Q1 2010 when there were 24 announced transactions with values more than US$50 million. However, the US$12.9 billion value of these deals far outstrips the US$6.3 million seen the same period last year—a 105% rise in deal volume year-over-year. The first quarter also saw a resurgence of “mega deals” (transactions worth more than US$1 billion) as there were four mega deals in Q1 globally, an increase from two during the same period in 2010.”
