The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that investment bankers are urging Toronto-listed companies to buy a business or raise some money as deal volumes in Canada have fallen to their lowest levels in 23 years. The Post's Geoffrey Morgan writes that equity and equity-linked offerings in Canada fell for the third straight year to hit their lowest point since 2001. There were 236 deals in 2024, raising $17.2-billion, compared with $19.8-billion in 2023. The activity stands in sharp contrast to the United States, where such offerings have climbed for the third straight year. "We need corporate Canada to become greater risk takers," said Peter Miller at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. "We just need corporate Canada to, you know, want to take some risks, strap on some capital projects and do more M&A to fuel growth." Mr. Miller said while the number of deals dropped in 2024, the proportion of so-called clean deals rose, indicating investors have appetite for more. The problem is not demand but supply, he said. In a clean deal, banks can smoothly sell securities of a transaction they underwrote, whereas in a hung deal they may need to offer deeper discounts or risk being stuck with unsold inventory.