Wells Fargo to Sell Shareowner Services Business for $227 Million--Update

By Razak Musah Baba

LONDON--Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) agreed to sell its shareowner services business to the U.K.'s Equiniti Group PLC (EQN.LN) for $227 million.

Wells Fargo said Wednesday that its shareowner business provides services like stock transfer and registrar as well as other corporate actions to more than 1,200 public and private companies in the U.S. Equiniti, which provides share registration and associated investor services in the U.K., said the deal would help it to expand globally.

As part of the deal, more than 400 Wells Fargo workers are expected to transition to Equiniti.

Equiniti said it would finance the deal from a $160 million rights issue and $155 million in new debt. Equiniti also said it expected cost savings of at least $10 million a year by the third full year of ownership.

The acquisition, pending regulatory and Equiniti shareholder approvals, is expected to close before the end of the year.

In afternoon trading in London, Equiniti shares added 9.5% to GBP2.66. Wells Fargo shares slid 0.3% to $54.88 in premarket trading in the U.S.

-Write to Razak Musah Baba at [e-mail]; Twitter: @Raztweet

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 12, 2017 09:21 ET (13:21 GMT)

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