Birch Hill, Brookfield buying First National Financial in $2.9-billion deal
TORONTO — First National Financial Corp. says it has agreed to be sold in a roughly $2.9 billion deal.
The mortgage firm says funds managed by Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc. and Brookfield Asset Management are the buyers though a newly-formed acquisition vehicle.
First National Financial says founders Stephen Smith and Moray Tawse will each indirectly maintain about a 19 per cent interest in the company.
It says the purchase price of $48 a share represents a 15.2 per cent premium to the average of the past 30 trading days and is above the 52-week high for the company, though it is below its peak of over $52 a share in 2021.
First National Financial says the deal came after a strategic review and that it offers compelling value and liquidity to shareholders.
Founders Smith and Tawse respectively hold about 37.4 per cent and 34 per cent of outstanding shares, of which they will sell about two-thirds to the buyers and exchange the rest into ownership interests.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025.
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