We already knew this; but outsiders are noticing.
Globe says Transat, others could be ripe for a takeover
2014-05-13 08:45 ET - In the News
See In the News (C-TRZ) Transat AT Inc
The Globe and Mail attempts to identify good takeover targets in its Tuesday, May 13, edition. The Globe's Tim Shufelt writes in the Number Cruncher column that Canadian companies were not inclined to acquire last year. Suffering from depressed commodity prices, the resource sector in particular stood out for its lack of dealmaking, notes Mr. Shufelt. He says while the first quarter was still weak in terms of Canadian mergers and acquisitions, there are signs of a rebound. He says M&A activity is reportedly gaining traction in the oil patch as well as the mining sector. PricewaterhouseCoopers says, "Although the numbers for this quarter are not great, strength in energy and a potential resurgence in mining suggest that M&A activity may finally be looking at the upswing we've been anticipating for some time." In making his picks, Mr. Shufelt looked for an attractive ratio of enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Mr. Shufelt only considered stocks priced at least 30-per-cent lower than their 52-week highs. His potential takeover candidates are Transat A.T., Teranga Gold, Rio Alto Mining, Serinus Energy, Timmins Gold and Pulse Seismic.