After years in a Bay Street coma, Canada’s IPO market appears to have a pulse.
What happened: Apotex, Canada’s largest pharmaceutical company, is planning to go public on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) this year. The potential $1 billion share sale would mark the largest Canadian IPO in five years.
If Apotex sounds familiar, it’s because the company’s founder, Barry Sherman, was mysteriously murdered alongside his wife at their Toronto home in 2017 — a case that is still unsolved.
Soon after their deaths, the firm was sold to private equity firm SK Capital, which is now taking the drugmaker public.
Big picture: Some analysts believe this is the year Canada’s lacklustre IPO market finally wakes up. A record 42 companies went public on the TSX in 2021, but since then, the exchange has only seen a handful of IPOs a year, many of which have underperformed.
This year, big names like Xanadu and General Fusion are slated to go public, while several others, including WestJet, are rumoured to be following suit.
BMO’s head of equity capital markets told Reuters that this year’s IPO pipeline is the strongest he’s seen since the record-setting 2021 year.
Why it matters: The IPO market serves as a barometer for how businesses and investors feel about the country’s economy. A flurry of IPOs would be a major vote of confidence in the Canadian market, especially as businesses face pressure to relocate to the U.S.—LA
