Velan Holding to sell its entire holdings in Velan Inc. to Birch Hill Equity Partners. MONTREAL, Jan. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Velan Inc. (TSX: VLN) ("Velan" or the "Company") today announced that its controlling shareholder, Velan Holding Co. Ltd. ("Velan Holding"), the sole holder of the Company's multiple voting shares, has agreed to sell its 15,566,567 multiple voting shares and one subordinate voting share (representing approximately 72.1% of the Company's outstanding shares and 92.8% of its aggregate voting rights) to funds managed by Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc. ("Birch Hill"), at a price of C$13.10 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of C$203,922,040.80 to Velan Holding and two other entities associated with shareholders of Velan Holding (the "VH Transaction"). Birch Hill is a leading Canadian investment partner with a 30-year track record of deploying patient capital and operational expertise to scale market leaders for long-term global growth. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Pursuant to a pre-closing reorganization, Velan Holding will, among other things, convert 2,290,075 multiple voting shares into the same number of subordinate voting shares. Therefore, giving effect to such pre-closing reorganization, 13,276,492 multiple voting shares and 2,290,076 subordinate voting shares will be sold to Birch Hill on closing of the VH Transaction (representing approximately 72.1% of the Company's outstanding shares and 91.9% of its aggregate voting rights) (collectively the "VH Transaction Shares").

Birch Hill Equity Partners and Brookfield Asset Management have agreed to acquire First National Financial in a deal valuing the Canadian mortgage lender at CAD2.9 billion ($2.12 billion), as announced on Sunday.