Bremer Financial Corp. in St. Paul said it would acquire 11 branches in the Twin Cities area from Firstar Corp. of Milwaukee for an undisclosed sum.
Firstar, which has $77.6 billion of assets, was ordered by regulators to divest the branches as a condition for its pending merger with Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp. When combined, Firstar and U.S Bancorp would have about $160 billion of assets and about 2,200 branches including 90 in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market in 24 states. The merger is expected to be completed this quarter.
For $4.2 billion-asset Bremer, the transaction announced late Wednesday would almost double its network in the Twin Cities market and would increase its overall assets by $600 million.
Bremer operates more than 100 offices in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Its deal for the Firstar branches is expected to close in the second quarter.
