TransCanada drops 'Canada' from its name after 67 years

TORONTO (Bloomberg) -- TransCanada Corp. is taking the Canada out of its name.

The Calgary-based firm that was created in 1951 as TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. to bring natural gas to Eastern Canada from Alberta, will change its name to TC Energy in the second quarter. The TRP ticker symbol used on the Toronto and New Stock Exchanges will remain.

“The name TC Energy clearly articulates our complete business – pipelines, power generation and energy storage operations – and reflects our continued continental growth into an enterprise with critical assets and employees in Canada, the United States and Mexico,” CEO Russ Girling said in a statement Wednesday.

Fittingly, the name change was announced at an employee forum in Mexico City. Truth is, TransCanada is increasingly getting more of its revenue from outside Canada, where it built the 14,000 km (8,700 mi) Mainline gas pipeline in the 1950s. The U.S. accounted for about 60% of TransCanada’s revenue in 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. About 36% came from Canada and the rest from Mexico.

TransCanada, which diversified heavily into the U.S. with its $10.2-billion Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. acquisition in 2016, signaled a name change more than a year ago by seeking trademarks on new company names that would excise its home country.

The pipeline builder and operator published the names TC Energy, TCE, Ventiv, Convergent and Northbow, according to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.

TransCanada’s shares have jumped 8.3% this year, boosted by the rebound in oil prices.