NEW YORK -- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce plans to pay $95 million in cash for a 40% stake in Juniper Financial Corp., and it has signaled its intention to later buy a controlling stake, 51%, in the online bank, according to an application filed with the Federal Reserve Bank here.
The application, filed June 21, states that CIBC proposes to buy 95% -- or 66,433,567 shares -- of Junipers Series C preferred stock, convertible to common stock. The filing adds that CIBC may also acquire additional voting shares of Juniper under separate transactions. Therefore applicants have applied to acquire up to 51% of the voting shares of Juniper. The transactions require regulatory approval.
Juniper is the eight-month-old Internet venture started by Richard W. Vague and James Stewart, who previously worked together at First USA and then at Bank One Corp. after it acquired the credit card issuer.
Juniper said it has nearly 150,000 customers and $325 million of credit card receivables. It has raised more than $114 million of private equity and does not break out numbers for its savings and checking account customers.
