In January, RBC was in negotiations to acquire Boston Private before it arrived at a deal to buy another bank in the US, reported The Wall Street Journal, citing two people familiar with the matter.
RBC finally decided that acquiring Boston Private was not an ideal choice as the former was looking for a wealth management platform instead of private banking one, the publication reported.
Initially, RBC valued Boston Private at $2bn, but later decided that this was too high.
It is not clear if Boston Private is holding an auction, according to the publication.
The Wall Street Journal quoted another source as saying that Boston Private also featured in the list of potential acquisition targets of CIBC.
In January, RBC agreed to acquire US-based City National Corp for $5.4bn, with an aim to penetrate deeper into the wealth management business in the US.
Most Canadian banks have not been impacted by financial crisis. Several of them are looking to expand their wealth management business, reports Reuters.
Wealth management and private banking company Boston Private serves clients in the major markets of San Francisco, San Jose/Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles.
The company’s integrated service offerings, including investment management, wealth management, family office, trust, deposit & cash management, residential mortgage and commercial banking, are customized to meet the financial needs.
RBC serves 18 million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide, while CIBC serves over 11 million clients globally, and has more than 40,000 employees.
Image: RBC headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Photo: courtesy of Ancien et modern/Wikipedia