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NEW YORK (AP) - Merrill Lynch & Co., the biggest U.S. retail brokerage, said Monday it will buy San Francisco-based wealth manager First Republic Bank for $1.8 billion in cash and stock.
The transaction allows Merrill Lynch to tap into $10.7 billion of assets held by First Republic, which provides investment services including trust banking and luxury home lending. Because it caters to the wealthy, First Republic attracts hefty deposits and has few credit problems, the companies said.
This marks Merrill's biggest takeover in about a decade, and is part of a wider strategy to offer banking services for its more affluent customers. The New York-based company last year took a 50 percent stake in money manager BlackRock, and also bought mortgage bank First Franklin Financial Corp. last year.
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