The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that Bank of Nova Scotia said Thursday that it will buy the Canadian Medical Association's wealth management firm for nearly $2.6-billion. The Post's Geoff Zochodne writes that Scotiabank plans to finance a portion of the purchase of MD Financial Management, which boasts $49-billion in assets under management, with a $1.5-billion public offering of 19.7 million shares of Scotiabank at $76.15 apiece. Brian Porter, chief executive officer at Scotiabank, said during a conference call with analysts Thursday that the lender's proposed $2.58-billion cash purchase of MD Financial would give the bank the "largest private investment counsel business in Canada." Mr. Porter added, "We believe that there are significant opportunities to deepen MD client relationships through Scotiabank's leading retail, small business and private banking products and services." The lender expects the deal to be accretive on an earnings per share basis in year three. Scotiabank's purchase of MD Financial follows the bank's $950-million acquisition of independent investment firm Jarislowsky Fraser earlier this year, another move that was aimed at beefing up Scotia's wealth management business.