Bennett Jones is acting for Equitable Bank in its agreement to acquire a majority interest in Concentra Bank and Equitable Group's concurrent $200-million bought deal offering of subscription receipts. Concentra is the 13th largest Schedule I bank in Canada. Based on Concentra's book value of $11.3 billion in assets at November 30, 2021, the acquisition would result in a total purchase price of $470 million, subject to customary adjustments at the time of closing. Equitable Bank is expected to become the 7th largest Canadian-owned bank by assets.
Equitable's internal legal team is led by Michael Mignardi, Equitable's General Counsel. The Bennett Jones team is led by Suzana Lobo and John Teolis and includes Curtis Cusinato, Jeff Kerbel, Matthew Hunt, Gordon McKenna, Adam Kalbfleisch, Jessica Thrower, Nusrat Ali, Benjamin Gal and Tyler McAuley. This matter also included the following specialists: Talia Bregman, Jeilah Chan, Carl Cunningham and Susan Seller.
More information is available in Equitable Bank's news release on the transaction.