The Bank of Montreal, a major investor in Hartford asset manager Virtus Investment Partners Inc., announced Friday that it is acquiring Marshall & Ilsley Corp., which is headquartered in Milwaukee, for $4.1 billion in stock, The Associated Press reports.
The Canadian bank said it signed a definitive agreement with the Wisconsin-based bank to exchange 0.1257 shares of Bank of Montreal for each share of M&I.
The bank’s Chicago-based Harris Bankcorp unit holds a large chunk of Virtus’ series B preferred stock.
“The acquisition is consistent with our strategy to strengthen our North American businesses,” Bank of Montreal President and CEO Bill Downe said in a statement.
He said the addition of the Wisconsin bank would “align well with BMO’s retail, commercial, and asset (and) wealth management businesses in the U.S.”
M&I is headquartered in Milwaukee and has $51.9 billion in assets. The bank has more than 190 offices throughout Wisconsin as well as locations in Indiana, Minnesota and other states.
Bank of Montreal said once the transaction is completed, Marshall & Ilsley president and CEO Mark Furlong will become the CEO of the combined banks’ U.S. personal and commercial banking business, based in Chicago.
The Bank of Montreal says the transaction has been approved by the boards of both banks and is expected to close before July 31.
