Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada's third-largest lender, agreed to buy ING Bank of Canada for C$3.13 billion ($3.16 billion).
Scotiabank will buy the ING Groep NV unit in a cash deal, the Toronto-based bank said today in a statement. It will sell 29 million shares at C$52 each in a bought deal, for gross proceeds of C$1.51 billion to fund the takeover.
Scotiabank said the transaction will add C$30 billion in retail deposits to its balance sheet and 1.8 million customers. Scotiabank, which has expanded mostly in Asia and Latin America over the past decade, had C$670 billion in assets at the end of July.
ING, the biggest Dutch financial-services firm, said Aug. 2 it's "reviewing strategic options" for ING Direct units in the U.K. and Canada as it seeks to repay government aid received during the financial crisis. The Canadian online bank has assets of about C$40 billion and employs 1,100 people.
ING Bank of Canada is the largest foreign-based lender in Canada after HSBC Holdings Plc, according to data from the country's banking regulator.
ING started its Internet bank in Canada, its first branchless venture, in 1997. It build the division through a television advertising campaign in which Dutch actor Frederik de Groot urged Canadians to "Save your money" in accented English and French and criticized fees charged to the nation's established banks.
ING sold the U.S. portion of ING Direct in February to Capital One Financial Corp. for $6.3 billion in cash and about 54 million Capital One shares, equal to a 9.7 percent stake, the bank said in a statement when the deal was completed.
