The new energy trusts trade on Canadian markets with a portfolio of assets in oil-rich places like Texas and Oklahoma.PAT SULLIVAN
Canadian investors are getting picky when it comes to which of a new breed of cross-border energy trusts they will buy.
Buyers shunned Meranex Energy Trust, which on Tuesday cancelled its planned $150-million initial public offering, but are showing more interest in an offering from Crius Energy Trust that sources say appears to still be on track.
Meranex and investors couldn't agree on a price to get the deal done, said one person familiar with the transaction, so it was put on ice.
However, the book of orders is said to be stronger for Crius, which is looking to raise about $136-million.
These trusts are based on U.S. assets, but traded in Canada, a structure that allows them to skirt the federal government's ban on income trusts for Canadian assets.
The trusts had been having a good run. Eagle Energy Trust raised $150-million about a year ago. Parallel Energy then raised $342-million, and Argent Energy Trust pulled in $212-million in summer.