Wisconsin Banking Update
Providing banking news in Wisconsin that Wisconsin Bankers can use. Keep on top of all the banking issues that are affecting Wisconsin in one place. If you would like to receive these updates by email please subscribe by entering your email address on the right. There is no cost and no obligation.
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Canada Banks on a ‘Buyout Binge’
Posted on December 18th, 2010 No commentsCanada’s biggest banks are on a buyout binge, often targeting weaker rivals in other nations. Canada’s No. 4 lender, Toronto-based Bank of Montreal, often known as BMO Financial Group, announced the biggest of the recent takeovers with its friendly $4.1 billion acquisition of Marshall & Ilsley Corp. – a change not likely to affect customers. Read more in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Appleton Post-Crescent, or Green Bay Press-Gazette. -
M&I Announces Acquisition by BMO
Posted on December 17th, 2010 No commentsAfter two years in the red and facing a still-bumpy road back to profitability, Marshall & Ilsley Corp. announced its acquisition by the Canadian parent company of Harris Bank, a move that should invigorate the wounded M&I franchise but will cost Milwaukee a corporate headquarters. The all-stock deal is valued at $4.1 billion. Read more in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Small Business Times and The Business Journal. -
M&I, BMO Deal Came Together Quickly
Posted on December 17th, 2010 No commentsThe deal between BMO Financial Group and Marshall & Ilsley Corp. “came together quickly,” according to BMO’s CEO Bill Downe, but the Canadian company carefully reviewed M&I’s loan portfolio before proceeding, The Business Journal reported. -
Leaders Put Positive Spin on Deal
Posted on December 17th, 2010 No commentsCommunity leaders were putting a positive spin on the news that Marshall & Ilsley Corp will be purchased by BMO Financial Group. They said Harris will want to keep M&I’s market share and goodwill in the community and thus is likely to keep up M&I’s community involvement. Read The Business Journal article. -
Editorial: ‘Why We Don’t Cheer’
Posted on December 17th, 2010 No comments“One of Wisconsin’s oldest and most venerated corporate citizens, Marshall & Ilsley Corp., is being sold. And no matter how long the corporate publicity machines whir, they can’t change the nagging feeling that this deal is of questionable value for Milwaukee,” wrote the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in an editorial. -
‘New Money Won’ in M&I Deal
Posted on December 17th, 2010 No commentsMarshall & Ilsley Corp., Wisconsin’s largest bank holding company, was sold to BMO – the Canadian operator of the Bank of Montreal and Harris Bank – for $4.1 billion in stock, or $7.75 a share. Not a bad price, if you purchased the stock last year for $5.75 a share in one of M&I’s two offerings – but if you’re a longtime shareholder, the sale price doesn’t look so hot. Some say a change in the bank’s lending style was responsible for the dramatic losses that led to the sale. Read the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article. -
First Michigan CEO Talks About Acquisition
Posted on November 28th, 2010 No commentsDavid Provost, president and CEO of First Michigan Bank, talked about the recent FDIC-assisted acquisition of First Banking Center in Burlington in an interview with Crain’s Detroit Business. -
Central Bank At Home in Hudson
Posted on November 27th, 2010 No commentsFifteen months after arriving in Hudson, Central Bank is still glad to be there. The bank was one of nine Mainstreet branch locations, plus the home office in Forest Lake, Minn., that Central Bank acquired in an FDIC-assisted transaction in August 2009. Read the story in The Hudson Observer.
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Town Bank Seeking Acquisitions
Posted on October 8th, 2010 No commentsTown Bank was a runner-up in the bidding for failed bank Maritime Savings, but Town Bank’s parent company is continuing to seek acquisitions in Wisconsin. Town Bank, Hartland, is owned by Wintrust Financial Corp., Lake Forest, Ill., which already bought two Chicago-area banks this year through FDIC-assisted transactions. Read more in the Business Journal of Milwaukee.
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CD Rates Can Be Cut After Takeover
Posted on October 2nd, 2010 No commentsNo one has ever lost a penny on bank deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. – but when a bank fails, the acquiring institution does have the right to lower interest rates paid on certificates of deposit. That’s what happened when North Shore Bank recently acquired Maritime Savings Bank and reduced a 3.05 percent CD rate, which one customer called an insult. Read the article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.