Gillian Tan, Columnist

CIBC's Close Call Is Cold Comfort for Canadian Banks

Until the financial situation stabilizes in Canada, further deals like the one for PrivateBancorp will be few and far between.

May 12, 2017 at 6:22 PM UTC

By Gillian Tan

Gillian Tan is a senior reporter covering finance and alternative asset classes including real estate, infrastructure, private equity, private credit, venture capital and sports business. She previously wrote an opinion column for Bloomberg and was a reporter at the Wall Street Journal. She is a qualified chartered accountant.

Canadian flag pins are arranged for a photo in Toronto on Thursday, August 18 2011.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

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Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's top executives can breathe now.

The Canadian lender's acquisition of PrivateBancorp Inc. -- first announced 11 months ago and sweetened not once, but twice in the past six weeks -- on Friday received approval from the Chicago bank's shareholders. It wasn't a sure thing, with at least one proxy adviser recommending that investors vote it down, in part because the value of the cash-and-stock offer was slipping. That happened as CIBC's shares were dragged lower for reasons including issues at Canadian mortgage lender Home Capital Group Inc., which sapped confidence in the country's banks and triggered debt downgrades.