Australian share registry firm Computershare has acquired the transfer agent operations of Atlanta-based Sun Trust Banks and the share ownership management business of Montreal-based National Bank Trust, a subsidiary of National Bank of Canada.
In a statement Computershare says it has acquired the two units for less than A$20 million in cash, and predicts revenue from the two businesses to be around A$15 million a year.
Under the deal with SunTrust, Computershare will take on registry and transfer agent servicing for approximately 170 issuers. As part of the agreement, SunTrust itself will become a registry client of Computershare.
All SunTrust clients are expected to be converted to Computershare systems by the beginning of the third quarter 2006. In addition, Computershare says it will establish an office in Atlanta, staffed by employees from both Computershare and SunTrust.
Under the second deal, Computershare will acquire all of the transfer agent and employee plan administration activities and a portion of the corporate trust services business of National Bank Trust. This transaction is expected to close at the end of Aprril 2006.
Computershare says the acquisitions demonstrate "the commitment we have to the North American market".