Cenovus buys Alberta oilsands rival in $5.7 billion cash-and-stock deal
Net debt stood at approximately $3.0bn at the end of the third quarter of 2026, with year-end pro forma net debt projected at $5.0bn to $5.5bn.
Cole Smead, chief executive of Smead Capital and a Cenovus shareholder, called the move aggressive and said the company was paying a high price, Reuters reported.
“It’s an expensive move, but it’s an optimistic move,” Smead said.
The valuation is higher than earlier transactions, and the lack of targets may slow oilsands mergers and acquisitions, Enverus Intelligence Research senior analyst Michael Berger wrote, according to CBC News.
Wood Mackenzie calculated the deal brings Cenovus’s share of total oilsands output to 21.5 percent, the same outlet reported.
