Toronto (Reuters): Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) will buy Wisconsin’s Marshall & Ilsley Corp (MI.N) bank for about $4.1 billion in an all-stock deal, the biggest in a series of Canadian financial sector deals to snap up weakened rivals.
Canada’s fourth biggest bank said the deal would strengthen its position in the U.S. Midwest and more than double a branch network it operates through its Chicago-based Harris Bank subsidiary.
It will issue about C$800 million ($792 million) in new shares to help fund the deal.
That news drove BMO shares down 6.5 percent to C$58.02 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Shares of takeover target M&I were up 20 percent at $6.95 in New York. Read more…..