The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that a bevy of outsized equity offerings, propelled by mergers and acquisitions activity, made 2016 a record year for stock sales in Canada. The Globe's Christina Pellegrini and Niall McGee write that last year, companies in Canada raised $51.2-billion in stock, eclipsing the previous record of $49.4-billion set in 2009. The fourth quarter was particularly strong, with $11.3-billion raised during the last three months of 2016 compared with $6.8-billion in the same period in 2015. The energy and pipeline sectors showed particular strength in 2016, after a relatively slow 2015, with Suncor Energy, EnCana, Enbridge and TransCanada unveiling multibillion-dollar equity deals last year. In March, TransCanada raised $4.4-billion in the largest share sale in Canadian history to help finance its $10.2-billion (U.S.) purchase of Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. It did this by selling subscription receipts in a bought deal led by RBC Dominion Securities and TD Securities. TransCanada later raised an additional $3.5-billion (Canadian) in a separate bought deal. National Bank Financial, meanwhile, ranked first in 2016 for total debt raised by a single investment bank.