Butterfield to acquire CIBC Caribbean in US$1.8-billion deal

The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited has agreed to buy the CIBC Caribbean Bank Limited, creating one of the Caribbean's largest banking groups with roughly US$29 billion in combined assets.

The deal will buy out Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's controlling stake in CIBC Caribbean — the public currently holds the remainder. It’s the third attempt by CIBC to reduce its Caribbean exposure in roughly seven years.

The deal combines the Bermuda-based Butterfield group — which also operates in The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands, UK, Switzerland, and Singapore — with the Barbados-headquartered CIBC Caribbean that serves over 526,000 customers across 10 countries. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

"This deal combines two storied and complementary banks, with significant local scale advantages and time-honoured customer relationships in their respective core jurisdictions," said Michael Collins, Butterfield's chairman and chief executive.

Under the terms of the agreement, Butterfield will pay CIBC US$1.09 billion in cash and US$703 million in Butterfield shares for its 91.7 per cent stake, then launch a mandatory bid for the remaining shares from the public, with the objective of reaching full ownership. Following completion, CIBC will hold some 22 per cent of the enlarged Butterfield and the right to appoint two directors to its board.

Across the region, Butterfield holds US$14.4 billion in total assets up to March, CIBC Caribbean holds US$14.3 billion in total assets to January; NCB Financial holds J$2.43 trillion in assets, or US$15.5 billion; and Scotia Caribbean holds US$26 billion in assets to April. The acquisition carries particular weight in the Cayman Islands, where Butterfield's 2025 annual report identified CIBC FirstCaribbean as one of its two most significant competitors alongside Scotiabank. The deal effectively removes a key rival from that high-income market.

Butterfield said it expects the transaction to generate 12 per cent accretion to earnings per share in year one once synergies are phased in, with pre-tax cost savings projected to reach an annual run rate of about US$49 million by 2030.

For clients of both banks, there will be no immediate operational change. Butterfield pledged to maintain CIBC Caribbean's regional headquarters in Barbados and both organisations' existing branch footprints.

Mark St Hill, chief executive of CIBC Caribbean, said the combination brings together "two organisations with shared values and a common focus on relationship banking, innovating and community impact."

Following completion, Butterfield intends to seek secondary share listings on the Barbados, Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago stock exchanges, subject to local requirements.

In 2018, CIBC attempted to list FirstCaribbean on US stock markets, looking to raise as much as US$240 million by offering 9.6 million shares, but it failed to garner enough support from investors. In late 2019, CIBC reached an agreement to sell a 66.7 per cent stake to GNB Financial Group Limited for US$797 million, which would have reduced CIBC to a 24.9 per cent minority shareholder. GNB is the holding firm for Jaime Gilinski Bacal, a Colombian banking billionaire. However, that transaction did not receive approval from FirstCaribbean's regulators and did not proceed.

business@gleanerjm.com