Equitable Group Inc. announced it’s buying Concentra Bank in a deal valued at $470-million.
Equitable Bank, the wholly owned subsidiary of Equitable Group, said it’s buying Credit Union Central of Saskatchewan 84-per-cent common share equity interest in Concentra, as well as support agreements with additional Concentra shareholders representing a majority of the remaining 16 per cent.
Andrew Moor, CEO of Equitable, called it one of the “most important and consequential” transactions in the bank’s history adding that it “accelerates our growth plan by several years.”
Equitable said it will pay for a portion of the deal through a $200-million bought-deal financing. It will issue about 2.84 million subscription receipts for a price of $70.50 each to a syndicate of underwriters that includes Canada’s largest banks.
The company also increased the quarterly dividend by 51 per cent to 28 cents per common share and reported fourth-quarter financial results it said were “in line with medium-term guidance and were delivered with above-target growth in loans and deposits.”