Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Global mining companies will be “extremely active” making acquisitions next year, helping drive an increase in new stock sales, said Adam Waterous, Scotia Capital’s global head of investment banking.

“It’s going to be an extremely active year in the mining sector,” Waterous said today in a telephone interview. “You look at our pipeline of transactions; it’s very deep and robust.”

The investment-banking arm of Toronto-based Bank of Nova Scotia also expects more stock sales and acquisitions in the oil and gas and financial services industries next year. Initial public offerings may be sporadic in Canada over the next year, said Patrick Burke, head of institutional equity sales.

“I don’t see a huge number, but there are definitely IPO candidates in the Canadian market,” Burke said

Advising on transactions such as Barrick Gold Corp.’s $3.5 billion equity offering helped Scotia Capital compete with domestic peers. The firm ranks third this year in Canadian equity, equity-linked and preferred stock sales, according to Bloomberg data, up from sixth place in 2006. The bank ranks 18th for announced mergers by value this year, according to Bloomberg data.

Canada’s third-largest lender had underwriting and advisory revenue of C$436 million ($405.8 million) in the first three quarters of 2009, the second-most of any Canadian bank, according to Macquarie Capital Markets analyst Sumit Malhotra.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sean B. Pasternak in Toronto at spasternak@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 6, 2009 15:18 EST