Globalive says Ottawa has approved its bid for Wealth One Bank
A consortium of Canadian investors led by Globalive Corp. says it has secured the federal government's approval to acquire Toronto-based Wealth One Bank of Canada, two years after Ottawa ordered three of its founding investors to divest their shares in the bank.
Globalive, a private company run by wireless-telecom entrepreneur Anthony Lacavera, said in a statement that it has met all of the conditions to complete the acquisition and that the deal is expected to close within weeks.
'We're very happy to partner with Globalive, whose strategic vision aligns perfectly with our commitment to supporting customers with practical financial solutions,' Wealth One president and chief executive Paul Leonard said in a statement.
Wealth One is a Schedule 1 bank catering to Chinese-Canadian clients, and its assets total more than $516-million, most of which are uninsured mortgages on residential real estate. The bank opened its doors in 2016 with a $50-million investment from backers and has never turned a profit.
Globalive had outlined a growth strategy based on expanding Wealth One's residential mortgage business and providing lines of credit to individual borrowers.
The deal will see all of Wealth One's current investors divest their shares and the ownership of the bank move into a special purpose vehicle, or SPV, a legal entity that allows multiple investors to pool their capital and make an investment in a single company.
Globalive will be responsible for governance over the SPV, while other investors will be limited partners with only an economic interest in the company.
In 2023, then-finance minister Chrystia Freeland ordered three of the bank's founding investors – Toronto insurance executive Shenglin Xian, Vancouver property developer Morris Chen and Toronto grocery tycoon Yuansheng Ou Yang – to divest their shares and imposed national-security conditions on the bank.
Under the deal, the three will divest their shares but maintain an economic stake through the special purpose vehicle.
The office of the current Finance Minister, François-Philippe Champagne, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ottawa ties Wealth One founders to possible Chinese interference
'We are taking a long-term growth approach with Wealth One, with a consortium of strategic investors alongside permanent capital from Globalive,' Mr. Lacavera, chair of Globalive, said in a statement.
'We look forward to closing the transaction, capitalizing the bank, and supporting its next phase of growth,' he added.
Over the past three years, Wealth One has operated with security measures in place meant to guard against money laundering and unauthorized sharing of sensitive information.
Early last year, Globalive made a bid to buy a 54-per-cent stake in Wealth One for $51-million and invest up to $200-million in expanding the business. In December, 2024, the Competition Bureau approved the acquisition.
Globalive said Tuesday the acquisition is now valued at $58-million for a 65-per-cent stake held by Globalive and the consortium, with legacy investors holding the remainder.
Globalive's backers include high-net-worth families in Canada, Britain and the United States with experience investing in the financial sector, The Globe and Mail previously reported.
Mr. Lacavera founded Wind Mobile in 2008 with financial backing from Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris. In 2016, it was sold for $1.6-billion to Shaw Communications Inc., which renamed it Freedom Mobile.
To win regulatory approval for Shaw's sale to Rogers Communications Inc. in 2023, Rogers sold Freedom Mobile – the country's fourth-largest wireless carrier – to Quebecor Inc. for $2.85-billion. At the time, Mr. Lacavera made an unsuccessful bid for Freedom Mobile.
Mr. Lacavera is also the co-founder and CEO of EverMe.ai, an artificial intelligence-powered longevity platform.
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