Willkie advised Centerbridge Partners, L.P. on the combination of its portfolio company Fairstone Bank of Canada with Home Trust Company, a transaction that will create the leading alternative lender in Canada.

On March 26, Fairstone Bank and Home Trust announced the signing of a definitive agreement to combine their respective businesses, forming an alternative lender servicing more than two million customers across Canada. The combined business will provide services to customers who have been historically underserved, offering residential and commercial mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, retail financing, auto financing, digital lending and consumer deposits.

Following the closing of the transaction, Smith Financial Corporation will own a majority interest in the combined entity and Centerbridge Partners will continue as a minority shareholder.

Willkie previously represented Centerbridge Partners in its investment in Fairstone Bank in 2021.

The Willkie team was led by partners Rosalind Fahey Kruse and Justin Sommerkamp and included partners Christopher Peters and Rose Ohanesian and law clerk Melissa Abi Jaoude.