Mortgage lender Equitable Group Inc. has successfully raised total proceeds of $50 million by way of a domestic bought deal prospectus offering and private placement offering, the company said Tuesday.

A total of 2 million Non-Cumulative 5-Year Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series 1 were sold at a price of $25 a share. Of the shares issued, 1,640,000 were placed on a bought deal basis with a group of underwriters led by National Bank Financial Inc. and GMP Securities L.P. The bought deal raised gross proceeds of $41 million, which included the concurrent exercise of the over-allotment option of an additional 200,000 Series 1 Preferred Shares. Equitable sold the remaining 360,000 shares at $25 per share on a private placement basis to Canadian Western Bank.

Toronto-based Equitable used the total proceeds from the offerings to acquire Non-Cumulative 5-Year Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series 1 from its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Equitable Trust Company, which qualify as Tier 1 capital for Equitable Trust, with terms and conditions similar to the Series 1 Preferred Shares issued by Equitable Group.

“These transactions support our growth strategy by further strengthening our capital position without dilution to our common shareholders,” says Andrew Moor, Equitable Group president and CEO. “With these offerings completed, we look forward to maintaining Equitable’s enhanced balance sheet while profitably deploying capital in markets that offer us excellent potential.”

The Series 1 Preferred Shares yield 7.25% annually, payable quarterly, as and when declared by the board of directors of Equitable for an initial period ending Sept. 30, 2014. Thereafter, the dividend rate will reset every five years at a level of 4.53% over the then five-year Government of Canada bond yield.

Holders of Series 1 Preferred Shares will, subject to certain conditions, have the option to convert their shares to Non-Cumulative Floating Rate Preferred Shares, Series 2 on Sept. 30, 2014 and on September 30 every five years thereafter. Holders of the Series 2 Preferred Shares will be entitled to a floating quarterly dividend rate equal to the 90-day Canadian Treasury Bill Rate plus 4.53%, as and when declared by the Equitable board of directors.

IE