RBCs US expansion continuesRBC's Centura Arm to Acquire Eagle Bancshares
18:31 EST Tuesday, March 26, 2002
TORONTO (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Canada , Canada's biggest bank, said on Tuesday it will further expand its presence in the United States after it struck a deal to buy Eagle Bancshares for $153 million.
North Carolina-based RBC Centura Bank, a wholly owned personal and commercial banking arm of Royal, said the purchase of the U.S. banking company will give it an "immediate footprint" in Atlanta, adding to the growing network of services the bank offers in the United States.
RBC Centura said each Eagle Bancshares common stock will be converted into the right to receive $26.
Shares of Royal Bank ended up 12 Canadian cents at C$51.70 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. On Nasdaq, Eagle rose 2.5 percent, or 43.8 cents, to $17.938.
"The acquisition of Eagle Bancshares is another step in our North American growth strategy," said Jim Rager, vice-chairman of RBC Financial Group and head of RBC Banking.
Royal Bank has been on a spending spree in the United States that has seen it acquire Centura, brokerage Tucker Anthony Sutro and securities firm Dain Rauscher, among others, in just over two years.
The proposed deal with Eagle Bancshares falls in line with Royal Bank's U.S. acquisition strategy. It has consistently said any new acquisitions -- following its $625 million purchase of Tucker Anthony Sutro -- will be "relatively small, relatively tactical" and not likely to exceed C$1 billion across various businesses during the fiscal year.
The bank is eager to enhance its wealth management and personal and commercial banking operations in the United States over the long term.
Atlanta-based Eagle will give the firm further geographic reach after it is rebranded under the RBC Centura name. The firm has 283 employees, about 90,000 accounts and assets of $1.1 billion.
Tucker Federal Bank, the 10th largest bank in metropolitan Atlanta in terms of deposit market share, is owned and operated by Eagle Bancshares and is part of the takeover agreement.
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval, and is expected to close by July 31.
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Good luck to all