Financial Services Acquisitions in Canada

Neighbourhood Holdings Ltd. acquired Fisgard Asset Management Corporation, combining two Canadian alternative mortgage lenders to create one of the country’s largest mortgage investment entities. The combined business will manage over $750 million in assets under management across approximately 1,550 mortgages and continue operating two separate investment vehicles, Neighbourhood Holdings Income Trust I and Fisgard Capital Corporation. As part of the transaction, members of the Strandlund family will remain involved as shareholders and in key roles within the combined company.

Royal Gold, Inc. announced the closing of its previously announced acquisitions of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. and Horizon Copper Corp., expanding Royal Gold’s portfolio of precious metal stream and royalty interests. Royal Gold issued approximately 18.6 million shares to Sandstorm shareholders and paid approximately $126 million in cash consideration to Horizon shareholders, financing related needs in part via its revolving credit facility.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc., a Toronto-based multi-strategy hedge fund manager, announced it has acquired Castlefield Associates Inc. Castlefield, founded in 2019 by Chris Schindler and partners, is a systematic alternative investment manager focused on relative value systematic futures strategies. Polar expects the acquisition to add Castlefield’s quantitative capabilities and support the build-out of a new systematic strategy vertical.

Kensington Capital Partners Limited has acquired the venture capital investment business of Ottawa-based ONE9, bringing ONE9’s future fund formation and direct investment activities under Kensington. Kensington also acquired a minority stake in ONE9 Capability Labs, with an option to purchase the remaining interest upon achieving certain milestones; ONE9’s legacy investments are excluded and will remain with the vendors.

WD Capital Markets Inc. completed a management buyout in which the firm’s leadership acquired 100% of the company’s shares. Effective March 31, 2025, the business rebranded and relaunched as HDL Capital Inc., continuing to provide M&A advisory and transaction services from Toronto.

TriWest Capital Partners has partnered with Alta West Mortgage Capital Corporation (Alta West Capital) via a majority equity investment. Alta West Capital’s existing management team will continue to lead the business and remain significant shareholders as TriWest supports the company’s growth in the Canadian alternative residential mortgage market.

DeFi Technologies Inc. completed the acquisition of Stillman Digital Inc. and Stillman Digital Bermuda Ltd. (collectively Stillman Digital), a global digital asset liquidity provider offering electronic trade execution, market making, and OTC block trading. DeFi Technologies acquired all issued and outstanding securities of Stillman Digital in exchange for 2.5 million DeFi Technologies common shares, aiming to enhance trading capabilities and diversify its customer base and revenue streams.

TMX Group Limited has acquired Newsfile Corp., a Canadian-owned news dissemination and regulatory filing provider. The deal strengthens TMX Group’s Capital Formation business by expanding its offerings beyond listings into newswire distribution and regulatory filing solutions (including SEDAR+, EDGAR and XBRL).

nesto, a Canadian digital mortgage lender, acquired CMLS Group, Canada’s third-largest mortgage finance company, to form what it says will be the largest technology-enabled lender in Canada. The combined entity will provide residential and commercial mortgage services with over $60 billion in mortgages under administration, with support from multiple institutional investors and CMLS shareholders rolling equity into the new company.

National Bank of Canada entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Canadian Western Bank (CWB), a diversified financial services institution headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. National Bank will acquire all issued and outstanding CWB common shares via a share exchange, valuing CWB at approximately $5.0 billion, with closing expected by the end of 2025 subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Hampton Financial Corporation has agreed to acquire 100% of the outstanding common shares of Oxygen Working Capital Corp., a specialized commercial factoring lender based in Oakville, Ontario. The consideration is valued at approximately $9.78 million and will be paid in Hampton subordinate voting shares, with additional OCC warrants issued to OCC shareholders; if all warrants are exercised, Hampton would own an 80% fully diluted stake in OCC. The transaction is expected to close on April 1, 2024, subject to final approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.

Servus Credit Union Ltd. has completed the acquisition of Stride Capital Corp., a Calgary-based equipment financing and leasing provider. The deal strengthens Servus’s commercial equipment leasing offering, with Stride continuing to serve clients across Canada as a subsidiary backed by Servus’s balance sheet.

B. Riley Financial, Inc. acquired Farber's corporate division, which will operate under the name B. Riley Farber. The combination expands Farber’s access to B. Riley’s broader financial services platform and is intended to accelerate growth across Canada and North America, including offerings in restructuring, investment banking, forensic accounting, litigation support, and wealth management.

First Financial Equipment Leasing (FFEL), a member company of JA Mitsui Leasing Ltd., acquired NorFund Capital to expand its equipment financing operations into Canada. Toronto-based NorFund Capital specializes in capital equipment leasing, solar and alternative energy, and vendor finance programs, and will form the basis of the newly named First Financial Canadian Leasing.

Smith Financial Corporation (controlled by Stephen Smith) agreed to acquire and later completed the acquisition of Home Capital Group Inc. via a court-approved plan of arrangement. A wholly owned subsidiary of Smith Financial acquired all outstanding Home Capital shares it did not already own for $44.00 per share in cash, which increased to $44.28 per share due to a closing after May 20, 2023, valuing Home Capital’s equity at approximately $1.7 billion at announcement.

Novacap entered a partnership and completed an investment in Ratehub.ca, a Toronto-based online marketplace for financial services products, including mortgages, credit cards, and insurance. The deal represents the fifth platform acquisition under Novacap’s first financial services fund and is intended to support Ratehub.ca’s continued organic growth and acquisition strategy.

SOL Global Investments Corp. purchased 62,500 common shares of Atmofizer Technologies Inc. on the Canadian Securities Exchange at an average price of CAD$2.618 per share. The purchase increased SOL Global’s ownership from approximately 8.34% to 8.42% on a non-diluted basis, and SOL Global noted it also holds 1,299,999 warrants that would take its ownership to about 10.00% on a partially diluted basis if exercised.

Revolution Capital acquired Growth Capital, a Canadian factoring firm specializing in the transportation industry. The deal expands Revolution Capital’s scale and strengthens its market leadership in factoring and cash-flow financing across Canada and the United States.

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Aequitas Innovations, Inc. (NEO), a Canadian capital markets fintech that operates the NEO Exchange and related services. The deal is intended to strengthen Cboe’s Canadian equities offering alongside MATCHNow, and is expected to close in the first half of 2022 subject to regulatory approvals; financial terms were not disclosed.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation completed the separation of its LoyaltyOne segment into a newly independent, publicly traded company, Loyalty Ventures, which begins trading on Nasdaq under the ticker LYLT. The transaction was executed via a pro rata distribution of 81% of Loyalty Ventures shares to Alliance Data shareholders, with Alliance Data retaining 19% that it intends to divest in a tax-efficient manner.

goeasy Ltd. acquired LendCare Holdings, Inc., a Canadian point-of-sale financing provider, from CIVC Partners. The transaction is intended to accelerate goeasy’s growth in the Canadian consumer credit market by expanding its product range and point-of-sale distribution platform.

Global Care Capital Inc. entered into a share exchange agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding securities of CCM Technologies Inc. Consideration includes approximately 94.17 million Global Care common shares issued to CCM shareholders and 65.0 million share purchase warrants issued to CCM warrantholders, subject to customary approvals and CSE approval. CCM is a digital asset/cryptocurrency mining infrastructure company focused on blockchain ecosystem infrastructure.

Simply Green Home Services Inc. (Simply Group) announced that an affiliated corporation acquired SNAP Financial Group Inc. in a transaction valued at approximately $511 million enterprise value. The deal includes SNAP’s Canadian consumer financing division, SNAP Home Finance, expanding Simply Group’s consumer credit assets under management to over $1.25 billion.

Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC completed the strategic acquisition of Canaccede Financial Group, expanding its consumer charged-off and insolvency receivables business into Canada. J.C. Flowers & Co., the principal shareholder of Jefferson Capital, backs the transaction, while both Jefferson Capital and Canaccede will continue to operate as independent companies.

Duo Bank of Canada, a Toronto-based financial services provider backed by Stephen Smith, Centerbridge Partners and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Fairstone Financial Holdings Inc. The seller is an investor group led by J.C. Flowers & Co. and Värde Partners, and the deal includes all operating subsidiaries and employees; financial terms were not disclosed.