(Bloomberg) -- National Bank of Canada received the final government approval needed to proceed with its acquisition of Canadian Western Bank.
The lender said in a statement Friday that the federal minister of finance approved the deal, which comes after Canada’s antitrust watchdog and bank regulator also cleared the transaction.
The all-share acquisition, which was valued at C$5 billion ($3.5 billion) when the banks announced it in June, is expected to be completed on Feb. 3, the firm said in the statement.
National Bank, Canada’s sixth-largest lender with C$462 billion in assets, capitalized on its surging share price in recent years to snap up its much smaller rival, which is based in Edmonton, Alberta.
“We are strengthening National Bank’s position across the country and allowing for more growth in Western Canada, building on the excellent reputation and solid foundation set by CWB,” Laurent Ferreira, chief executive officer of National Bank, said in the statement.
The deal will give National Bank a bigger retail footprint in the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, home to most of the 39 branches and 65,000 clients Canadian Western had at the time the deal was struck.
Canadian Western had C$37.6 billion in loans as of Oct. 31, it said in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report this week, which came after an unusual delay of almost two weeks owing to a legal claim the bank later said would have no impact on its financial statements.
Leadership Changes
Separately, National Bank announced two executive changes on Friday. Michael Denham, who leads its commercial and private-banking business, will become vice-chair as of March 1, with responsibility for leading the integration of Canadian Western, the bank said in a statement.
Judith Ménard, who’s head of national accounts in the commercial and private-banking unit, will succeed Denham as head of that business and join the bank’s senior leadership team on March 1.
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