Canaccord to launch $1bn fund for Canada resources after China deal
CANACCORD Financial yesterday announced it was launching a $1bn (£630.8m) fund to invest in the resources sector in Canada.
The firm, one of the biggest investment banks in Canada, will work in partnership with China’s Eximbank.
The fund will be branded the Canada-China Natural Resource Fund. The deal was signed yesterday by Canaccord chief executive Paul Reynolds and Zhu Xinqiang, vice president of Eximbank.
The Canada-China Natural Resource fund will help companies in Canada, whether already listed or seeking to go public.
It will be run separately to Canaccord’s other funds and is seeking to attract investors primarily in China but also across the globe.
The aim is to give a boost to the resources sector in Canada, which has already seen an influx of investment from China. Energy and mining are the sectors which have received particular attention.
Canaccord has increasingly looked to do business with China and acquired a leading boutique Chinese investment bank, the Balloch Group, in November 2010.
Reynolds said: “Resource Fund demonstrates the importance of Canadian financial markets in the development of resource companies and the continued expansion of Chinese participation in natural resource projects around the world.”
The agreement was signed during a trade mission by the Canadian authorities to China, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.