Shareholders approve takeover offer

Article Excerpt

HOME CAPITAL GROUP INC. $41 is a hold. The company (Toronto symbol HCG; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 42.6 million; Market cap: $1.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.5; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.homecapital.com) is a mortgage lender serving borrowers who fail to meet the stricter standards of Canada’s big banks and other larger, traditional lenders. Home Capital’s shareholders have voted to accept a friendly takeover offer of $44.00 a share from Smith Financial Corp. (SFC), a company controlled by well-known investor Stephen Smith. SFC has large investments in other alternative lenders, such as Equitable Bank, so it may have to sell some of those holdings to win regulatory approval for the Home Capital purchase. If it’s unable to complete the transaction, it will pay a $60 million breakup fee to Home Capital. Moreover, SFC will increase the takeover offer by $0.00273973 a share each day the closing is delayed beyond May 20, 2023. Home Capital Group is a hold. hold. …