First Bank System to buy Boulevard Bancorp.

MINNEAPOLIS - First Bank System announced late Wednesday afternoon that it plans to buy Boulevard Bancorp in Chicago, marking its first incursion into Illinois.

The Minnesota-based bank company said it would pay about 6.5 of its shares to Boulevard shareholders, giving the deal an indicated value of about $200 million.

First Bank plans to repurchase about 6.5 million shares of its common stock within 90 days of the closing of the acquisition, thus permitting it to treat the deal under the purchase method of accounting. It said the merger, expected to close in the second quarter of 1994, should add to its earnings that year as a result of plans to reduce Boulevard's high expenses.

Shares of First Bank, which has $25.6 billion of assets, rose 25 cents to $33.375 in late trading Wednesday. Shares of Boulevard, which has 11 branches, $1.5 billion of assets, and $1.2 billion of deposits, rose 25 cents to $23.50.

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