Canaccord is to establish a $1bn fund with China’s state-owned Export-Import Bank to invest in Canadian natural resources, as a trade mission to China led by Canada’s prime minister prompts a flurry of deals between the two countries.
The Canadian investment bank has been trying to expand its presence in Asia, acquiring the Balloch Group, a Chinese boutique investment bank in 2010, and forming a strategic agreement with Eximbank in the same year. It is also expanding in London with the £253.5m acquisition Of Collins Stewart, the stockbroker and wealth manager, which was agreed in December.
The Canada-China Natural Resource Fund will seek to raise $1bn from investors, and will close in the first half of this year.