Announces new name of RBC Natural Gas Services Inc.
TORONTO, April 3, 2013 /CNW/ - Royal Bank of Canada (TSX: RY) (NYSE: RY)
today announced that it has acquired the Athena Energy Group, a market
leading natural gas supplier in Quebec. The acquisition expands RBC
Capital Markets' existing business, which offers structured pricing for
natural gas supply, from Ontario into Quebec.
Terms were not disclosed.
"RBC is the leading Canadian bank offering structured contracts for
natural gas supply directly to commercial clients, helping them manage
their exposure to changes in energy prices. This acquisition builds on
our existing presence in the market and positions us well for the
future," said Bruce Macdonald, Head of Commodities & Electronic Trading
at RBC Capital Markets. "Athena has longstanding relationships with
more than 400 commercial and institutional clients in Quebec, and its
team will be able to leverage the strength in commodities and risk
management of RBC to provide additional value to its clients."
RBC Capital Markets' Commodities group provides leading international
sales and trading capabilities across a variety of commodity markets
(oil and gas, metals, agriculture, electricity and carbon emissions) in
North America and Europe.
"The Athena team is excited about the opportunity to join RBC. As part
of RBC Natural Gas Services Inc., we will have even better tools to
continue to provide outstanding service to our customers and further
grow our business," said Robert Bédard, principal co-founder, Athena
Energy Group and vice-president and co-head of commercial energy, RBC
Capital Markets.
The Athena Energy Group was a privately-held business headquartered in
St. Leonard, Quebec, consisting of two sister companies, Athena Energy
Marketing Inc. and Athena Energy Services Inc. Effective immediately,
the Quebec natural gas structured contracts business is renamed and
will operate as RBC Natural Gas Services Inc.
About RBC Capital Markets
RBC Capital Markets is the corporate and investment banking arm of the
Royal Bank of Canada, the fifth largest bank in North America by market
capitalization. RBC Capital Markets is a premier investment bank that
provides a focused set of products, services and expertise to
corporations, institutional investors and governments around the world.
With over 6,500 professionals in 15 countries, we deliver our products
and services to clients in over 100 countries through operations across
North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. For more
information, please visit www.rbccm.com.
About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries operate
under the master brand name RBC. We are Canada's largest bank as
measured by assets and market capitalization, and are among the largest
banks in the world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North
America's leading diversified financial services companies, and provide
personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance,
and investor services and wholesale banking on a global basis. We
employ approximately 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve
more than 15 million personal, business, public sector and
institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 49 other
countries. For more information, please visit rbc.com.
RBC supports a broad range of community initiatives through donations,
sponsorships and employee volunteer activities. In 2012, we contributed
more than $95 million to causes worldwide, including donations and
community investments of more than $64 million and $31 million in
sponsorships.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
From time to time, we make written or oral forward-looking statements
within the meaning of certain securities laws, including the "safe
harbour" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable Canadian securities legislation. We may make
forward-looking statements in this press release, in filings with
Canadian regulators or the SEC, in reports to shareholders and in other
communications. Forward-looking statements in this press release
include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the expected
impact of the acquisition of Athena Energy Group by Royal Bank of
Canada. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words
such as "believe", "expect", "foresee", "forecast", "anticipate",
"intend", "estimate", "goal", "plan" and "project" and similar
expressions of future or conditional verbs such as "will", "may",
"should", "could" or "would".
By their very nature, forward-looking statements require us to make
assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, which
give rise to the possibility that our predictions, forecasts,
projections, expectations or conclusions and other forward-looking
information, including statements about the expected impact of the
acquisition of Athena Energy Group by Royal Bank of Canada, will not
prove to be accurate and will not be achieved. We caution readers not
to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of risk factors
could cause our actual results to differ materially from the
expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. These
factors - many of which are beyond our control and the effects of which
can be difficult to predict - include, but are not limited to: the
impact of changes in the laws and regulations regulating financial
services and enforcement thereof; general business and economic market
conditions in Canada, the United States and certain other countries in
which Royal Bank of Canada or Athena Energy Group operate; the effects
of competition in the markets in which Royal Bank of Canada and Athena
Energy Group operate; judicial or regulatory judgments and legal
proceedings; the ability of Royal Bank of Canada to complete the
integration of Athena Energy Group's business successfully; and other
factors that may affect future results of Royal Bank of Canada and RBC
Capital Markets' Commodities business, including timely development and
introduction of new products and services, and the ability of Royal
Bank of Canada to build on its existing presence in the market.
We caution that the foregoing list of risk factors is not exhaustive.
When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions with
respect to us, investors and others should carefully consider the
foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.
Material economic assumptions underlying the forward looking-statements
contained in this press release are set out in the Overview and outlook
section and for each business segment under the heading Outlook and
priorities in our 2012 Annual Report, as updated by the Overview
section in our Q1 2013 Report to Shareholders. Except as required by
law, we do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement,
whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by us or on
our behalf.
Additional information about these and other factors can be found in the
Risk management and Overview of other risks sections of our 2012 Annual
Report and in the Risk management section of our Q1 2013 Report to
Shareholders.
SOURCE: RBC
