Ms. Maggie Hall reports

EQB ANNOUNCES RENEWAL OF NORMAL COURSE ISSUER BID

EQB Inc. has filed, and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has approved, notice of EQB's intention to renew its normal course issuer bid (the NCIB) for common shares and its non-cumulative five-year rate reset preferred shares, Series 3.

Pursuant to the terms of the NCIB, EQB may repurchase for cancellation up to 1.15 million of its common shares and 290,512 of its preferred shares, representing, respectively, approximately 3.7 per cent and 10 per cent of the public float of such shares.

As at Dec. 22, 2023, there were 38,098,292 common shares issued and outstanding and the public float was 30,910,183 common shares and 2,911,800 preferred shares issued and outstanding and the public float was 2,905,120 preferred shares, calculated in accordance with the rules of the TSX.

Purchases under the renewed NCIB may commence on Jan. 5, 2024, and continue until Jan. 4, 2025, when the NCIB expires, or on such earlier date as the NCIB is complete. The actual number of Shares purchased under the NCIB and the timing of any such purchases will be at the company's discretion. Subject to the TSX's block purchase exception, on any trading day purchases under the NCIB will not exceed 14,197 common shares and 1,000 preferred shares, based on an average daily trading volume of the common shares and preferred shares from June 1, 2023, to Nov. 30, 2023, of 56,790 and 1,192 shares respectively (rounding down and determined in accordance with TSX polices).

The purchases made by EQB will be implemented through the facilities of the TSX, and through alternative Canadian trading systems, in accordance with TSX rules. Any shares purchased by the company will be cancelled.

The company's board of directors has authorized the NCIB because it believes that, from time to time, the market price of shares may be such that their purchase may be an attractive and appropriate use of corporate funds. The NCIB will provide the company with additional flexibility to manage capital and generate value for shareholders. Decisions regarding the timing of future purchases of shares will be based on market conditions, share price and other factors. Although EQB has a present intention to acquire its shares pursuant to the NCIB, EQB will not be obligated to make any purchases and purchases may be suspended at any time.

In connection with the NCIB, the company has entered into a share purchase plan to facilitate the purchase of preferred shares pursuant to the bid and under which its broker may purchase shares according to a prearranged set of criteria. If implemented, the plan will enable the purchase of shares at any time, including when the company would not ordinarily be active in the market because of internal trading blackout periods, insider trading rules or otherwise.

No common shares or preferred shares were repurchased under the company's previous NCIB.

About EQB Inc.

EQB trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and has over $115-billion in combined assets under management and administration. A wholly owned subsidiary of EQB, Equitable Bank, Canada's Challenger Bank, is the seventh-largest bank in Canada by assets and serves more than 578,000 customers. Equitable Bank's subsidiaries Concentra Bank and Concentra Trust support Canadian credit unions and their more than six million members. Equitable Bank has a clear mandate to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people's lives. Founded more than 50 years ago, it provides diversified personal and commercial banking, and through its digital EQ Bank platform has been named the top Schedule I bank in Canada on the Forbes World's Best Banks 2021, 2022 and 2023 lists.

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