Royal Bank of Canada To Acquire Full Ownership Of RBC Dexia Investor Services

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the 50% stake that RBC does not already own in the joint venture RBC Dexia Investor Services Limited (RBC Dexia) from Banque Internationale à Luxembourg S. A. (BIL) (formerly Dexia Banque Internationale à Luxembourg S. A.) for total consideration of EUR837.5 million (CAD1.1 billion) in cash. Following the closing of the transaction RBC will own 100% of RBC Dexia. In conjunction with entering the agreement, RBC Dexia has sold EUR1.4 billion (CAD1.9 billion) in nominal value of Dexia Group fixed income securities back to the Dexia Group and acquired approximately an equivalent amount of U.S. dollar-denominated securities consisting primarily of notes issued by large global financial institutions. Goldman Sachs and RBC Capital Markets served as financial advisors to Royal Bank of Canada in this transaction. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2012.