Canada's Laurentian Bank buys C$1 billion portfolio from CIT Group

(Reuters) - Laurentian Bank of Canada said it would buy CIT Group Inc's Canadian equipment financing and corporate financing business, a portfolio worth about C$1 billion ($772 million). Laurentian Bank said it expect the deal to be modestly accretive to its adjusted profit in 2017 and boost adjusted earnings by about 4 percent in 2018. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter after which about 140 CIT Canada employees will join the bank, Laurentian Bank said. ($1 = C$1.30) (Reporting by Anet Josline Pinto in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)