Overview
- Fairstone will acquire all Laurentian common shares at $40.50, a 20% premium, in an all-cash deal valued at about $1.9 billion.
- In the split transaction, National Bank will assume Laurentian’s retail and small-business loans and deposits and the syndicated loan portfolio, while Fairstone combines Laurentian’s commercial operations with its own.
- Laurentian will keep its brand and Montreal head office, CEO Éric Provost stays in place, and the bank plans to close its Quebec branches after the deal closes with no automatic staff transfers to National Bank.
- National Bank is set to add roughly $10.9 billion in retail balances and $1.4 billion in SME balances and will also take over distribution for certain mutual funds totaling about $3.4 billion.
- The deals require shareholder and regulatory approvals, with a special board committee backing them and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (≈8% holder) agreeing to vote in favor subject to conditions; customers are advised to watch for transition notices and guard against fraud.