WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve Board narrowly approved Norwest Corp.'s application to acquire Lindeberg Financial Corp. and indirectly acquire Forest Lake State Bank, both of Forest Lake Minn.
The board approved the application late Tuesday by a 4-3 vote, with Governors Wayne Angell, John LaWare, and Edward Kelley opposing on the ground that it would hurt competition in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market.
The dissenters noted that the proposal is Nortwest's fourth acquisition in the last five and a half years and that it has added 8 percentage points to its market share.
Still Second Place
The three governors also voted against an application by Norwest in July to acquire M & D Holding Co.. but the deal was authorized by a 4-3 vote.
Norwest is the second-largest commercial bank in Minnesota with $9.9 billion in deposits, or 22.4% of those in Minnesota banks.
The Fed said that even after the acquisition, Norwest would remain the No. 2 depository institution in the market.
