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By John Tilak
TORONTO, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Canadian merger and acquisitionactivity in the first nine months of the year touched theirhighest level since the financial crisis, buoyed by severalbig-ticket deals across a range of sectors, data from ThomsonReuters showed on Thursday.
M&A deal value jumped 17 percent to $209.7 billion in theperiod, up from $178.9 billion from a year ago, according toThomson Reuters data. It was the best first nine months since2007. Full-year figures will be available in January.
Morgan Stanley, Barclays Plc and Royal Bankof Canada were the top three advisers for Canadian M&Ain the period, followed by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Bank of Montreal. CIBC took thethird position among Canadian banks.
The biggest deal of the year so far is Enbridge Inc's planned acquisition of Spectra Energy Corp atabout $28 billion (C$37 billion). A move by Canadian fertilizerproducers Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc and AgriumInc to combine in a merger of equals was anotherhighlight.
"Investors in the market broadly are strongly endorsingthese deals. People are very supportive of strategic M&A," saidDerek Neldner, RBC's head of Canadian investment banking, whonoted that there were several transformational deals this year.
"Fundamentally we find M&A activity is driven by confidence- board of director and management confidence," he added.
RBC helped advise Potash Corp in its deal with Agrium, andEnbridge in its deal with Spectra.
After a lull in recent quarters, the traditional driver ofCanadian deal activity - mining and resource M&A - has begun topick up.
"We're starting to see a slow but steady rebound in theresource sectors, and that generally leads to more M&A andfundraising," said Bruce Rothney, chief executive of BarclaysCanada.
"There's some evidence of a turning point in mining and, toa degree, oil and gas."
Barclays advised Agrium and Spectra on their respectiveblockbuster deals.
Other highlights of the year include TransCanada's $10.2 billion acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group and FortisInc's proposed $11.3 billion purchase of ITC HoldingsCorp, which is expected to close by the end of the year. (Reporting by John Tilak; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
