Uncertainty still grips Canada’s mergers and acquisitions landscape, yet a surprising surge in disclosed valuations signals where buyers placed their bets through the first half of 2026.
Deal count barely moved year over year, but total disclosed enterprise value jumped dramatically thanks to a cluster of blockbuster transactions. A total of 708 Canadian companies changed hands between January and June 2026, up 2.3 percent from 692 during the same stretch in 2025. Disclosed implied enterprise value hit CA$91.4 billion, a 60.9 percent leap from the prior year.
The force behind that spike came from 39 megadeals, matching the previous year’s count but carrying an average implied enterprise value of CA$2.6 billion. Borealis GmbH and Borouge plc led the pack with their CA$13.5 billion acquisition of NOVA Chemicals Corporation. Coeur Mining followed with a CA$10.1 billion purchase of New Gold, while Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited snapped up Kennedy-Wilson Holdings for CA$9.1 billion.
Several other major transactions remained pending as the period closed. Shell Canada Limited announced a CA$22.6 billion deal for ARC Resources, which would rank as the largest disclosed transaction involving a Canadian party once finalized. Meanwhile, Kingsett Capital and Choice Properties REIT teamed up on a CA$9.4 billion bid for First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust, and a consortium of investors targeted Boralex for CA$8.7 billion.
As a result, the median deal value more than doubled from CA$5.0 million to CA$10.1 million. Smaller transactions under CA$100 million still accounted for 73 percent of all activity. However, the megadeals represented 88 percent of total disclosed deal value despite making up only 12 percent of transaction volume.
Buyers increasingly gravitated toward high-quality assets as a hedge against ongoing market unpredictability. With several sizable acquisitions still awaiting completion, the second half of 2026 could extend this pattern of selective but high-impact dealmaking.
