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By John Tilak and Matt Scuffham
NEW YORK/TORONTO, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley,Barclays Plc and Royal Bank of Canada took thetop spots advising Canadian mergers and acquisitions in 2016 asdeals in the pipeline, power and utility sectors propelled dealvolume to a nine-year high.
Deal value climbed 8.3 percent to $250.7 billion last year,from 2015 levels, according to data released by Thomson Reuters.
A number of large transactions, including Enbridge Inc's planned acquisition of Spectra Energy Corp forabout $28 billion and a proposed merger between fertilizerproducers Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc and AgriumInc, drove deal activity to the second strongest yearon record, after 2007.
Other major deals - such as TransCanada Corp's acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group, Fortis Inc's acquisition of ITC Holdings - involved Canadian companieslooking outside the country for growth. That often meant southof the border.
"Canadian investors are once again focused on the UnitedStates, and this will be an overarching theme in 2017," saidBruce Rothney, chief executive of Barclays Canada.
"The Trump presidency - and with it the promise of reformsin regulation, taxation and infrastructure spending - willaccelerate activity in 2017/18," he said.
In the rankings, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs andBank of Montreal rounded out the top six. AmongCanadian banks, RBC, BMO and CIBC were the top advisers.RBC also advised on the highest number of transactions.
A pickup in mining M&A and a steady stream of energy dealsensured that the resource sectors found their footing this year.
"In the low commodity price environment, we have seen somecompanies suffer and other companies on a relative basis gainadvantage," said Dougal Macdonald, president of Morgan StanleyCanada.
"Those who have relative advantage have become consolidatorsand those who suffered have become targets," Macdonald added.
The energy sector benefited from deals in the midstreamspace.
"Notwithstanding the significant correction in oil pricesover the last couple of years, energy M&A activity has held uppretty well," said Peter Buzzi, co-head of Canadian M&A at RBC.
Large deals played an outsized role in helping boost dealgrowth, said Daniel Barclay, head of investment and corporatebanking, Canada and international, at BMO Capital Markets.
BMO sees strong inbound and outbound activity in both theenergy and mining sectors in 2017, Barclay said, adding that theTrump presidency could also create opportunities for deals. (Editing by Leslie Adler)
