Oreninc Index Shows Life

The Oreninc Index showed life for the week ending February 11, 2016. Total dollars announced jumped to $54.6m, a three-week high. One brokered financing was announced for $20.8m, a ten-week high; No bought deal financings were announced for the seventh time in nine weeks.

In what was a particularly busy week for deal making news, Tahoe Resources (TSX:THO) announced a deal to take over Lake Shore Gold (TSX:LSG) for $751m. Gold had another fantastic week, while oil sank even further. While only one week, an active period in the financing market along with a couple deals that seem to be coming together gave the industry a rare positive week to feel good about.

Oreninc Index Continues Poor Performance

The Oreninc Index continued its poor performance and hit a 23-week low for the week ending February 4, 2016. Total dollars announced jumped to $27.2m, a two-week high. No brokered or bought deals were announced, making three- and two-week lows, respectively.

The biggest news of the week was reports that Anglo American plc (LON:AAL) is planning a complete exit from Brazil. Gold continued its torrid pace, hitting a three-week high, while crude oil continued its downward trend.

As the index and most commodities continue to stumble, things seem to be getting worse before they might get better.

The Oreninc Index stayed low for the week ending January 28, 2016. Total dollars dropped to $21.2m, a two-week low. One brokered and bought deal financing was announced for $8.4m, three and two-week lows respectively.

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V:BAY) led the way with deal making news, signing an LOI with BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE:BHP). Gold had an excellent week, hitting a 12-week high.

Not much movement is not much of a surprise at this point in this market. Entering what is generally considered one of the stronger times in the year for fundraising, the trend of continuously poor numbers make one think that maybe we may truly have hit a “market bottom”.  

Oreninc Index Falls to 21-Week Low

The Oreninc Index fell to a 21-week low for the week ending January 21, 2015. Total dollars announced jumped to $58.4m, a two-week high. One brokered and bought deal financing was announced for $15m, seven-week and nine-week highs respectively.

The biggest deal-making news of the week came from Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) increasing its friendly takeover bid of Canadian Oil Sands (TSX:COS) to $6.6bn, which is now backed by both companies. Gold had a moderately good week, increasing slightly. Oil had a tumultuous week, reaching an almost 13-year low on Wednesday before recovery slightly to end the week.

Despite the horrible index performance, some metrics such as total dollars announced did raise significantly. Part of the reason for the awful performance so far this year has been because here have not been many deals announced yet. Let’s see if that is the start of a trend as companies are finding it more and more difficult to raise money, or if they are merely saving the announcements for conference season to enhance their ability to market their deals.

Oreninc Index Rises Marginally

The Oreninc Index rose marginally for the week ending January 14, 2016. Total dollars announced rose to $13.4m, a 53-week low. One brokered financing was announced for $10m, tied for a six-week high; No bought deal financings were announced for the seventh time in eight weeks.

After a couple of holiday-filled weeks, deal-making activity has picked up a bit, with reports that South32 (ASX:S32) is considering an offer for Anglo American plc’s (LON:AAL) Brazilian niobium and phosphate business being the biggest news. Oil had a brutal week, with iron ore and copper not faring much better. Gold had a volatile week, but ended mostly where it started.

While the index numbers did rise this week, key numbers did go down. The increased performance is mostly due to an increase in broker dollars, which have been hard to come by recently. Still, seeing companies mull over acquisitions again brings some movement to the space as commodities continue to fall and money continues to be difficult to raise.