Scotiabank announced the purchase of Texas-based Maple Financial Holdings on Friday.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Bank of Nova Scotia BNS-T has struck a deal to buy a Texas-based bank in its latest move to expand its business in the United States.
The Canadian lender said it will acquire Maple Financial Holdings Inc., the parent company of MapleMark Bank, a commercial lender with operations primarily in Dallas, Tex.
Scotiabank has been growing its global banking and markets business in the U.S. as part of its strategy to benefit from business ties and trade between its three largest markets in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
In 2024, Scotiabank paid US$2.8-billion in cash for a 14.9-per-cent ownership stake in Cleveland-based KeyCorp KEY-N, which operates about 1,000 branches across 15 states.
MapleMark Bank provides personal and commercial banking and treasury management services, largely in Texas and Oklahoma.
The lender has US$1.01-billion in total assets and 82 employees, according to a regulatory filing in March.
The deal allows Scotiabank to offer its clients insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which covers up to US$250,000 in deposits for each account if a bank fails. The move is a part of the lender’s focus on growing its deposit base.
The deal “further supports our strategic focus within the North American corridor,” Scotiabank global banking and markets head Travis Machen said in a statement. It also expands the bank’s structured-finance mortgage business in the U.S., he added.
During a conference call with analysts discussing second-quarter results on Wednesday, Scotiabank chief executive officer Scott Thomson said the lender was considering some small acquisitions to build capabilities in its capital markets and wealth management businesses.
Mr. Thomson said the size of the acquisitions could range from $200-million to $400-million.
“We’re not talking about billions of dollars here, we’re talking about tuck-in, and frankly, I would like to do that sooner rather than later, because the opportunity in those two businesses is so material,” Mr. Thomson said.
Scotiabank did not disclose the terms of the agreement with Maple Financial, but the lender said it does not expect the transaction to have a material impact on its earnings or its common equity tier 1, or CET1, ratio – a measure of a lender’s ability to absorb losses.
In the second quarter, the bank posted a CET1 ratio of 13.3 per cent, well above the 11.5-per-cent minimum set by Canada’s banking regulator.