COLUMBUS, Ohio & DETROIT--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN; www.huntington.com) last night completed its acquisition of Michigan-based Macquarie Equipment Finance, Inc. (MEF-US) from its parent company, Sydney, Australia-based Macquarie Group Ltd. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Huntington’s earnings in 2015.
MEF-US is the largest standalone, independent provider of specialized technology financing in North America with approximately $500 million of annual originations. With today’s announcement, MEF-US will begin transitioning to operate under the name Huntington Technology Finance. Based outside of Detroit, MEF-US is the sixth major investment Huntington has made in Michigan in the past five years.
“The acquisition gives Huntington the ability to expand its already successful equipment financing business nationally and regionally,” said Steve Steinour, chairman, president and CEO of Huntington Bancshares. “With the acquisition we can offer additional leasing options for our corporate, middle market and small business customers in order to help them expand their companies. It also represents another Huntington investment in Michigan, where we are growing our presence and employee base because we believe in the future of the state.”
The transition will be seamless for customers who will continue to interface with the converting MEF-US workforce, under the ongoing leadership of Gregory Goldstein, formerly president of MEF-Global. The acquisition will add more than 165 jobs to Huntington’s colleague base.
“We have organically grown Huntington Equipment Finance by more than 200 percent over the past five years,” said Rick Remiker, Huntington commercial banking director. “With the addition of the MEF-US team, Huntington will have even greater expertise especially in the fast growing health care and technology markets that many of our customers and potential customers need in order to stay ahead of the ever-changing technology curve.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Huntington acquired approximately $900 million of assets and assumed approximately $630 million of debt, securitizations, and other liabilities.
Earlier this month, Huntington announced the opening of 43 additional in-store branches in Michigan that along with the MEF-US acquisition will bring the number of Huntington employees in the state to 2,300. Huntington’s investment in Michigan also includes:
- In 2011 Huntington made $2 billion in lending available to Michigan commercial and small businesses, working with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).
- In 2012 Huntington announced a $100 million statewide commitment to affordable housing investment.
- In 2013 Huntington helped launch the Pure Michigan Micro Lending Initiative.
- In 2014 Huntington added 22 branch locations expanding into new markets in Mid- and East Michigan including Saginaw, Bay City, Midland and Monroe.
About Huntington
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $66 billion asset regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The Huntington National Bank, founded in 1866, and its affiliates provide full-service commercial, small business, and consumer banking services; mortgage banking services; treasury management and foreign exchange services; equipment leasing; wealth and investment management services; trust services; brokerage services; customized insurance brokerage and service programs; and other financial products and services. The principal markets for these services are Huntington’s six-state retail banking franchise: Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. The primary distribution channels include a banking network of more than 700 traditional branches and convenience branches located in grocery stores and retirement centers, and through an array of alternative distribution channels including internet and mobile banking, telephone banking, and more than 1,500 ATMs. Through automotive dealership relationships within its six-state retail banking franchise area and selected other Midwest and Northeast states, Huntington also provides commercial banking services to the automotive dealers and retail automobile financing for dealer customers.
About Macquarie Equipment Finance
Macquarie Equipment Finance, Inc., a member of Macquarie Group, is a leading global provider of specialized financing and asset management solutions for enterprises, technology manufacturers and suppliers worldwide with capabilities to serve the needs of major multinational organizations through small and midsize businesses.
Macquarie Group (Macquarie) is a global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services. Founded in 1969, Macquarie operates in more than 70 office locations in 28 countries and employs more than 14,100 people. Assets under management total $372 billion as of September 30, 2014. For more information, visit www.macquarie.com/mef.
Important Information for Investors and Shareholders
Forward-looking Statement
This document contains certain forward-looking statements, including certain plans, expectations, goals, projections, and statements, which are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as expect, anticipate, believe, intend, estimate, plan, target, goal, or similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as will, may, might, should, would, could, or similar variations.
While there is no assurance that any list of risks and uncertainties or risk factors is complete, below are certain factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained or implied in the forward-looking statements: (1) worsening of credit quality performance due to a number of factors such as the underlying value of collateral that could prove less valuable than otherwise assumed and assumed cash flows may be worse than expected; (2) changes in general economic, political, or industry conditions; uncertainty in U.S. fiscal and monetary policy, including the interest rate policies of the Federal Reserve Board; volatility and disruptions in global capital and credit markets; (3) movements in interest rates; (4) competitive pressures on product pricing and services; (5) success, impact, and timing of our business strategies, including market acceptance of any new products or services implementing our “Fair Play” banking philosophy; (6) changes in accounting policies and principles and the accuracy of our assumptions and estimates used to prepare our financial statements; (7) extended disruption of vital infrastructure; (8) the final outcome of significant litigation; (9) the nature, extent, timing, and results of governmental actions, examinations, reviews, reforms, regulations, and interpretations, including those related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Basel III regulatory capital reforms, as well as those involving the OCC, Federal Reserve, FDIC, and CFPB; and (10) the outcome of judicial and regulatory decisions regarding practices in the residential mortgage industry, including among other things the processes followed for foreclosing residential mortgages. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described above can be found in Huntington’s 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K, and documents subsequently filed by Huntington with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements included in this document are based on information available at the time of the release. Huntington assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
