The National Bank of Canada logo is seen outside of a branch in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 14, 2019. National Bank said in a statement it will acquire the C$1 billion ($752 million) loan portfolio made up of technology, life science and global fund banking sectors. National Bank already has made a number of bets in the tech space in Canada investing in fintech firms such as KOHO, Synctera and Flinks over the years. Veritas Investment Research analyst Nigel D'Souza said the deal does not restrict National Bank from acquiring Laurentian Bank (LB.TO), but that deal was now less likely. "We continue to view National Bank as the best fit among the Big Six banks for Laurentian," D'Souza said.

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Persons: Chris Wattie, Michael Denham, Denham, Tuyen Vo, Nigel D'Souza, D'Souza, Jaiveer Singh, Will Dunham, Krishna Chandra Eluri, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: National Bank of Canada, REUTERS, National Bank, National Bank's Technology, Innovation Banking, Bank, Veritas Investment Research, Laurentian Bank, Big, Thomson Locations: Ottawa , Ontario, Canada, U.S, Silicon, Bengaluru