Canadian bank-owned, investment-banking firms took the lead in E&P equity financings in 2004, as they were responsible for C$1.36 billion, or 28%, worth of the total stock and unit placements, reports Calgary-based investment-banking firm Sayer Securities Ltd. The amount is up from C$180 million or 8% in 2003. Three bank-owned dealers held Top Five spots: TD Securities Inc. (No. 1), Scotia Capital Inc. (No. 3) and RBC Dominion Securities (No. 5), says Tom Pavic, an associate with Sayer. The triumvirate was responsible for Opti Canada Inc.'s C$750-million private placement in 2004 and then its C$301-million initial public offering. Additionally, RBC Dominion was co-lead underwriter on Deer Creek Energy Ltd.'s C$161-million IPO, Pavic adds. The other investment bankers in the top five are GMP Securities Ltd. (No. 2) and Canaccord Capital Corp. (No. 4). In 2003, all of the top five-GMP, Canaccord, FirstEnergy Capital Corp., Octagon Capital Canada Corp. and First Associates Investments Inc.-were firms not associated with banks, Pavic says. They raised $880 million that year in equity financings for Canadian producers, or 37% of the total. While TD, Scotia and RBC led in dollar value, GMP, Canaccord and FirstEnergy led in number of deals in which they were involved: GMP was involved in 115 deal of which it led 69; Canaccord, 77 deals and led 32; and FirstEnergy, 74 deals and led 34. As for unit placements for royalty income trusts (RITs), the top dealers in 2004 were CIBC World Markets Inc., Scotia, National Bank Financial Inc., TD and BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., Pavic says. Each firm did more than C$350 million in financings for RITs last year. In debt-based fund-raising, the biggest dealers in 2004 were non-Canadian: Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Each raised more than C$600 million in 2004 for the Canadian oil patch. In 2003, the top three were CIBC World Markets, Deutsche and Banc of America Securities LLC, each raising more than C$350 million. Pavic says the number of active investment dealers to the Canadian oil patch has grown from 53 in 2003 to 67 today. "The total number of active dealers, which we have defined as those firms completing over C$5 million in total issues per year, was comprised of six Canadian bank-owned firms, 17 U.S. dealers, eight international bank-owned firms and 36 Canadian independent brokerage companies." Newcomers include Clarus Securities Inc., CNCB Capital Corp., PowerOne Capital Markets Ltd. and Westwind Partners Inc. "With the demand for oil and gas companies still very high in the marketplace, the number of dealers servicing the industry will continue to remain strong." Pavic notes that the math used in establishing rankings is based on assigning more of a deal's value to the lead dealer's column.

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