27th Dec 2006 07:01
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce26 December 2006 CIBC Acquires Majority Stake in FirstCaribbean International Bank TORONTO, Dec 22, 2006 - CIBC(CM: TSX; NYSE) today announced that it haspurchased 599,401,230 shares of First Caribbean International Bank under itspreviously announced plans to acquire Barclays Bank's 43.7 per cent ownership inFirstCaribbean. CIBC paid US$988,652,389 in cash. The purchase price paid to Barclaysrepresents US$1.62 for each FirstCaribbean share, plus accrued but unpaiddividends. CIBC will now move forward with its planned mandatory offer to all shareholdersin FirstCaribbean. The mandatory offer will also be at a price of US$1.62 ashare plus accrued but unpaid dividends. Under its agreement with CIBC, Barclays will have the option to tender all or aportion of its remaining 66,600,137 FirstCaribbean shares under that offer.Both CIBC and FirstCaribbean are committed to maintaining a strong minorityownership that they expect to grow in the future. FirstCaribbean, which is listed on the Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobagoand the Eastern Caribbean Stock Exchanges, is the largest regionally-listed bankin the English-speaking Caribbean, with assets of approximately US$12.4 billionand a market capitalization of US$2.8 billion. CIBC's history in the Caribbean dates to 1920. In 2002, CIBC acquired a 43.7 percent ownership stake in FirstCaribbean when its Caribbean operations were mergedwith those of Barclays to form FirstCaribbean. CIBC's President and CEO Gerry McCaughey said: "We are pleased to have concludedthis part of the transaction successfully. We look forward to participating inthe future growth of FirstCaribbean in this dynamic region." FirstCaribbean has over 3,500 staff, 100 branches and banking centres, andoffices in 17 countries comprising: Anguilla, Antigua, The Bahamas, Barbados,Belize, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica,Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Maarten, St Vincent and theGrenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and The Turks & Caicos Islands. The bank hasapproximately 800,000 active accounts. It has maintained an "A-Stable" rating byStandard & Poor's from FirstCaribbean's inception in 2002, the highest rating ofany commercial bank in the Caribbean Community. Barclays PLC is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail andcommercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management andinvestment management services. It is one of the largest financial servicescompanies in the world by market capitalisation. CIBC is a leading North American financial institution with more than 11 millionpersonal banking and business customers. CIBC offers a full range of productsand services through its comprehensive electronic banking network, branches andoffices across Canada, in the United States and around the world. Contact: Rob McLeod, CIBC (416) 980-3714 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Barclays