Citizens Financial Group is planning to add another fee-generating business, this time with the purchase of a valuation consulting and forensic analysis firm.
The Providence, Rhode Island, bank said Thursday that it has agreed to acquire Willamette Management Associates. Willamette, of Portland, Oregon, provides consulting services to corporate clients and the legal profession.
The price of the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, was not disclosed.
The acquisition will strengthen the bank’s ability to provide “sound opinions and valuation services” to clients, Donald McCree, Citizens’ head of commercial banking, said in a press release.
Citizens has embarked on a buying spree in recent months. In May it announced it was
The Willamette deal is the latest step in Citizens’ multiyear quest to expand its fee businesses.
The $185.1 billion-asset bank was spun off from Royal Bank of Scotland in 2015, and has since completed several nonbank acquisitions, including
Citizens sees the purchase of Willamette as an add-on to the valuation services business that it owns as a result of its 2017 acquisition of
Buying Willamette would make Citizens one of the largest valuation services providers in the nation and expand its corporate financial advisory services capabilities, Citizens said.
Willamette, which has offices in Chicago, Atlanta and Portland, is expected to retain its name. Citizens plans to add the firm's 40-plus employees following the acquisition, according to a bank spokesperson.
Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that Citizens would have the fifth largest share in the New York metropolitan area if the acquisitions of Investors and 80 HSBC branches are finalized. Though precise data is not available, Citizens' deposit share in the region would be smaller than the story stated. The bank has said that it would be a top-10 New York City metro by deposits, including branches under $5 billion.
