Workers remove a cover from the side of an Viterra inland terminal in this file photo.TROY FLEECE/The Canadian Press
Chinese regulators have approved the long hung-up acquisition of Canada's Viterra Inc. by Glencore International PLC, which will put smiles on some faces at Canaccord Financial and Nexen Inc.
The Chinese approval was the last one standing between Glencore and finally closing the transaction.
Canaccord was the lead banker for Viterra, and so stands to collect a very big cheque for its work. Given the size of the purchase, at $6.1-billion, the transaction should generate something on the order of $25-million for Canaccord. Toronto-Dominion Bank is also in line for a similar fee as the co-advisor on the deal.
Viterra's approval by China also may be a signal that approvals for the CNOOC Ltd. takeover of Canada's Nexen Inc. are soon to come. There was a sense by some involved in Viterra's purchase that the deal with Glencore was hung up in the horse-trading around the contentious Nexen transaction.
If so, the closing of Viterra's file by the Chinese could be a sign that the situation with Nexen is close to being resolved.