(October 2 – 17:10 ET) – ING Canada has filed a proxy circular covering its proposed acquisition of Equisure Financial Network Inc.
The deal was initiated back in June 1998, when ING entered into an agreement which later saw it buy 2.9 million shares in Equisure at $10 a share, and $20 million of convertible debentures convertible into 2 million shares. In 1999, ING acquired an additional 522,000 shares at prices ranging from $5.03 to $6.34. On March 23, 2000, Equisure announced that its board’s Special Committee had retained BMO Nesbitt Burns to act as financial adviser and that the board had adopted a shareholder rights plan. ING voted against ratification of the shareholder rights plan, but it was approved anyway.
On August 24, ING entered into lock-up agreements with six of the firm’s directors for another 2,926,663 shares, another 13.2% of the outstanding shares. BMO Nesbitt Burns calls the offer fair and the board of directors have recommended it.
ING says that it intends to “eventually return to independent brokers part of the ownership of the brokerages owned by the corporation, and to continue to expand the corporation’s operations so as to include the delivery of financial services.” It expects to continue consolidating the insurance brokerage business after a deal, although the Finance Minister will have to approve brokerage acquisitions since ING is considered a “foreign bank”.
-IE Staff