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TODD KOROL/Reuters

A billion-dollar deal in the oil patch should have Calgary bankers celebrating. But the deal between Suncor Energy Inc. and Centrica PLC and its partner Qatar Petroleum was short on investment bankers.

Centrica did not hire any bankers to assist with its $1-billion purchase of Suncor's conventional natural gas assets, according to Wes Morningstar, a senior vice-president with Centrica in Calgary. Suncor, he noted, had Macquarie Group on its side.

The shortage of pinstripes comes after a weak first quarter for investment banks, leaving deal makers thirsty for fees. Plus, bankers are now counting on real estate and diversified industries to fuel their businesses, rather than energy and mining, so advisers in these areas are particularly keen on bringing in any revenue they can.

Suncor and Centrica, a British company, have done a deal in the past, meaning they were already familiar with each other. Further, it is not uncommon for asset acquisition and divestiture transactions to lack a swarm of bankers because they are much more manageable deals.

Suncor, Centrica, and Qatar Petroleum announced the deal on Monday.

(Carrie Tait is a Globe and Mail Energy Reporter.)

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 9:54am EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
MORN-Q
Morningstar Inc
+0.18%308.72
SU-N
Suncor Energy Inc
+0.74%36.75
SU-T
Suncor Energy Inc
+0.85%49.92

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