In one of Canada’s largest-ever bought deals, Suncor Energy Inc. has announced it will raise $2.5-billion to reduce debt and fund the acquisition that will give it a majority stake in Syncrude Canada Ltd.

In another sign of an improving market for energy transactions, Suncor said Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement to sell 71.5 million shares at a price of $35 per share.

“The net proceeds of the offering will be used for the previously announced acquisition of an additional 5-per-cent interest in the Syncrude joint venture and to reduce certain outstanding indebtedness,” a news release said.

The cash-in-hand will give Suncor the flexibility to jump on other opportunities for growth, as well.

But most immediately, the deal will help pay for what has been Suncor’s recent push to gain a majority stake in Syncrude. In April, Suncor said it would buy Murphy Oil Corp.’s 5-per-cent interest in the Syncrude mining venture for $937-million. That news came just weeks after it finalized its $4.2-billion deal for Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., previously Syncrude’s largest owner.

Disruptions related to the wildfires in northern Alberta forced the Canadian oil giant to cut its production outlook for the year. Although there was no damage to Suncor’s assets as a result of wildfires in the Fort McMurray region over the past five weeks, the company says it will likely take to the end of this month until its operations are fully back to normal. Due to the impact of the fires on refinery feedstock, as well as an unplanned outage at one unit of Suncor’s Edmonton refinery, gasoline and diesel production has also been reduced – creating shortages at Petro-Canada stations across Western Canada.

In the deal announced on Tuesday, the shares are being offered at a 4.1-per-cent discount to their Tuesday closing price, signalling some confidence from the underwriters. Had Suncor’s advisers been more worried about getting the deal done, they likely would have set the offer price lower in order to lure buyers. TransCanada Corp.’s $4.4-billion financing in March, for instance, was priced at a 7.4-per-cent discount.

The syndicate of underwriters for the offering is led by TD Securities Inc., CIBC Capital Markets and J.P. Morgan Securities Canada Inc. The deal is expected to close around June 22. If an over-allotment option is exercised in full, the proceeds are expected to hit $2.9-billion.