Executives at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. walked away from a plan to take the company private after they couldn’t get speedy approval from regulators for the deal. The shares fell to the lowest since December.
(Bloomberg) — Executives at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. walked away from a plan to take the company private after they couldn’t get speedy approval from regulators for the deal. The shares fell to the lowest since December.
A group led by Chief Executive Officer Dan Daviau and Chairman David Kassie in January offered about C$1.1 billion ($825 million) for the Canadian financial firm, with the support of a large outside shareholder. But the company warned last month it was dealing with an “ongoing regulatory matter” at one of its foreign divisions that would prevent it from getting regulators’ consent for the leveraged buyout by the June 13 expiry.
A committee of Canaccord’s board had asked the management group to consider extending the deadline, the firm said in a June 5 regulatory filing. Instead, the group opted to let the deal expire, according to a Wednesday statement.
Shares of Canaccord fell 4.4% to C$8.18 at 9:43 a.m. in Toronto on Wednesday. The take-private offer was for C$11.25 a share.
Canaccord said in a separate statement that it may keep an independent committee of the board active to consider “alternative transactions.” During the buyout process, Canaccord’s board received indications of interest from potential buyers of its wealth management business, which delivers investment advice to clients in Canada, Australia and the UK, according to regulatory filings.
The firm also has a capital markets business in all those markets plus the US. Investment banking revenue has plummeted since 2021, as rate increases and market volatility have reduced the appetite for initial public offerings and equity raises for the smaller companies that Canaccord serves.
The firm hasn’t disclosed details of the regulatory investigation it’s facing.
(Updates with share price in first and fourth paragraphs)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.