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‘Wall of cash’ said to await Canadian energy sector after forgettable year for deals

Sante Corona, senior vice president and head of equity capital markets at TD Securities

It was the type of year when chief financial officers had to search hard and use every tool at their disposal to fortify their companies’ balance sheets.

With crude oil shedding 45 per cent of their value in 2015, Canadian oil and gas producers glumly took an axe to their costs.

“The industry adopted a very pragmatic and very nimble approach,” says Trevor Gardner, a good investment banker with RBC Capital Markets. “They saw their business models changing and had to reconsider their financial position on the very frequent basis all year round.”

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Cenovus Energy Inc. was initially among the big players to move early, raising $1.5 billion via a syndicate of underwriters led by Royal Bank of Canada and TD Securities.

“Cenovus took the initiative to access equity capital markets early in the power market sell-off, which appears like a really astute move using the benefit of hindsight,” says Sante Corona, head of equity capital markets at TD.

Encana Corp.’s $1.4 billion bought deal offering led by RBC, Credit Suisse and Bank of Nova Scotia, followed within weeks, suggesting that well-run companies could still access markets in the depressed environment.

“Through part one of the season, we saw a good deal of equity financing where a lot of it was to shore up balance sheets,” says Mike Freeborn of one’s investment banking at CIBC Capital Markets. “They were glad they did as the year ended up even worse than anyone expected.”

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