Combined entities to service thousands of brokers, company says
Home Trust Company’s merger with Fairstone Bank of Canada has closed, with the lending giants finalizing a major move first announced in March last year.
Fairstone said in a news release on Wednesday morning that the combination will see Yousry Bissada, Home Trust’s chief executive officer, become vice chair of the board of directors, with Fairstone’s Scott Wood taking the reins as chief executive officer of the combined group.
Stephen Smith, who owns both Fairstone and Home Trust parent company Home Capital, will chair the combined company’s board of directors.
Last year, Smith Financial – which acquired Home Capital in 2023 – announced the merger plans, which it said would bring more than two million customers and 250 branches across Canada under the same roof.
Wednesday’s press release indicated the combined companies will service over 4,700 mortgage brokers throughout the country. Combined assets under management total around $30 billion, and the Globe and Mail reported last year that Smith values the merger at a value of about $5-6 billion.
The combined group’s products will include residential and commercial mortgages, GICs, consumer deposits, credit cards, retail financing, automobile financing, and personal and digital loans.
Smith also serves as executive chairman and cofounder of First National Financial Corporation and as a director of Canada Guaranty Mortgage Insurance Company, and is the largest shareholder in Equitable Bank.
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