PARIS (Reuters) – BNP Paribas, France’s biggest listed bank, said on Wednesday that it had received all the necessary regulatory approvals to complete its previously-announced sale of Bank of the West to Bank of Montreal.
BNP Paribas added that this transaction was expected to close on Feb 1.
Bank of Montreal had said in December 2021 that it would buy BNP Paribas’ U.S. unit, Bank of the West, for $16.3 billion in its biggest deal ever, allowing the Canadian lender to double its footprint in the world’s biggest economy, while giving France’s largest bank a huge step up in firepower for deals.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Dominique Vidalon)