Canada Pension Scouring Energy Sector For Deals

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is currently scouring the energy sector for attractive deals, according to CEO Mark Wiseman.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Wiseman said the fund is looking to make energy-related purchases of up to $1 billion.

From Bloomberg:

Lower oil prices have resulted in large haircuts for energy stocks, making them attractive to some asset managers.

“It’s our home market. We have a bullish long-term view on energy prices, and so I think you will see CPPIB continuing to put the focus on potential investments in the Western Canadian basin,” Wiseman said.

“Ultimately, we think the opportunity for us is looking at companies that have fundamentally high-quality assets but potentially have issues with their balance sheets.”

Wiseman declined to comment on how much the fund was prepared to spend but noted that it had enough capital to deploy for the right opportunity.

“We would look at financing anywhere from a $100 million to in well excess of $1 billion in a single transaction,” he said.

The company also recently boosted its natural resource team in Toronto, he said.

CPPIB manages $216 billion in pension assets.

Pension360 covered a related story in 2014: “Why Wiseman is Bullish on Energy”.

Photo by ezioman via Flickr CC License