Rumours about Mackenzie Financial Corporation persist

Mackenzie’s stock closed up 14.5%, to $21.75%,on volume of 2.7 million shares. Again today, Griffiths McBurney handled a couple of large crosses. It bought more than one million shares, and sold 851,000, including a 500,000 share cross. Griffiths was followed by TD Waterhouse and National Bank Financial as the biggest buyers.

Three prominent takeover rumours are making the rounds, C.I. Fund Management Inc., AIM Fund Management Inc. and AIC Funds Inc. C.I.won’t comment on any specific deal, but hasn’t ruled it out explicitly either.

C.I. could make a good fit since it sees itself as consumer products company and wouldn’t mind owning competing brands in the same sector. AIM has openly been looking for a deal for some time. AIC is always highly tipped in any possible fund company buyout, if only because it already owns big chunks of most of them.

Mackenzie is an oft-mentioned target because it has such a diverse product lineup and its stock is widely held and therefore perceived as more easily taken over tha a tightly held firm. Rumours such as this seem to flare up every few months surrounding Mackenzie –
before fizzling out.