Laurentian Bank of Canada T.LB

floor dropped

[jennifer8]

Laurentian Bank to drop two floors of Toronto office space

[Martincat]

That could be good news......Trimming the fat can`t be that bad!.....JMHO!

[Pandora]

Laurention Bank and Canada Western Bank both trade for around $24 - $25. This afternoon National Bank announced they are buying out Canada Western Bank for 0.45 of a National Bank share. National Bank is currently trading at $116+. 0.45 is about $52. That is quite a premium and makes me kick myself in the butt for choosing LB as a potential buyout. "Each CWB Share, other than those held by

[jennifer8]

do you think TD will the do the same with LB?

[Puma1back]

That was my thought as well given the chance they may get serious restrictions on forward US growth. Buy this and call it TD Laurention.   

[jennifer8]

would TD  offer TD  shares for  Laurention?? 1 TD for 2 Laurention?

[insidersnoop1]

LB refused 45$ buyout from National Bank last year (LB book value is 65.50$). CEO was fired 1 month after negotiations. She refused offer probably because she didn't want to lose her CEO position after buyout and merger. I would see Scotia Bank making an offer since they like Mexico and South America. So why would they not want to expand in Quebec ?. (safer than Columbia). After the next

[DeanEdmonton]

Insider - I have called uyou out before about this lie that LB turned down a $45 offer. You have NEVER provided proof of this and there is no record of this being true. QUIT spreading revisionist B.S>

[nedstar71]

Dean....you're forgetting this poster is insidersnoop.  He likely had the offices where the negoiations took place bugged.  No way he would make stuff like this up ;-)

[DeanEdmonton]

Nedstar - that was down right funeeee! What I always worry about on thse boards is someone buying into this B.S. and thinking it makes an arguement for a higher priced buyout. I don't believe anyone in their right minds would buy LB as an operating entity. It is poorly run and has a ton of tiny branches spread all over Quebec that would be a political nightmare to close. Assets and deposits

[nedstar71]

I don't totally agree with you there.  It's a bottom of the barrel bank for sure, but on a risk/reward basis combined with the highest yield of any Canadian bank I'd say it's worth owning even if the probablility of a takeover is not as high as some may believe.

[Pandora]

You say the Company is poorly run! If you read over the news releases for the past year you realize they have changed out pretty much all of senior management from the top down -- and then after they have done that you say it is poorly run. Do you feel they should have left management as it was or are you just throwing out that statement because you assume the new people being in-house must be

[rad10]

  buying for the outside possibility of a takeover is questionable.  Buy it because it is (1)dirt cheap, (2)yielding 7%, and (3)they have axed the quite frankly "silly" previous leadership. This will revert to the mean - in time.  Get paid to wait.

[DeanEdmonton]

Pandorra - Laurentian has been badly run for 40 years. They have changed out senior leadership MANY times, all promising a turnaround. The last CEO replaced leadership that was on a 5 year turnaround that never wwent anywhere. It isn't just the senior exec, the board are a bunch of loons too, and they aren't changing. The series of turn arounds, re-focus, alignmnets etc has never happened.

[Pandora]

OK, thanks for the analysis!

[nedstar71]

"Buying in the 22-25 range, probably not a lot of downside left in the stock, so a reasonable bet for those that want to play the odds, but don't ever think this is going to rank any better than last place." But that's my point.  Last place is fine with a 7% dividend, almost no downside and an off chance of upside of 50-100%. This is always what I don't get about

[nedstar71]

I think these analysts suffer from a notion that they should be comparing LB to TD, RY, BNS etc.  That's like evaluating a small sized qsr restauant chain and constantly comparing it to McDonalds.  Makes no sense and never will.

[rad10]

Exactly!  This is a dog with fleas.  Not a pedigree show pony.  You can't expect a Rolex when you are buying a perfectly functional Timex.

[Pandora]

I have no idea if one of the other banks would make such a move but it would sure make my day if there was a similar move. I took a position in Laurentian with a thought in mind that someone may pick it up but I never thought CWB would get the move first. Question is -- is there one of the other banks that would consider a similar move or will LB now just continue on as is? Kind of like someone

[jennifer8]

... at what  price .... maybe target takeover?  est guess?

[insidersnoop1]

$45 all share takeover bid from BNS.

[Pandora]

And how confident are you of a bid from BNS? and why?

[DeanEdmonton]

Insider- You are spreading the pump and hump of others. BNS didn't make a move during the last strategic review when they could have bought it even cheaper. Since then LB has announced really bad results that are just getting worse. None of the big 6 wants any part of buying this dog as an operating entity. Assets and deposits maybe, but not the rest of the operation.

[Red_Deer]

Hey DeanEdmonton__You Just NEVER GIVE UP eh !!!! You WERE POSTING the SAME BASHING Commentary on CWB the Past 2 YEARS And YOU Were PROVEN DEAD WRONG eh !!!!!