Article: Fleet seen in $3b deal for N.J. bank

Fleet Financial Group Inc. is expected today to announce that it will buy NatWest Bancorp of New Jersey for more than $3 billion, its second megamerger this year, people familar with the deal said yesterday.

The anticipated buyout comes just weeks after Fleet completed its acquisition of Shawmut National Corp. and signals that chief executive Terrence Murray wants the Providence bank to be a powerhouse not just in New England but along the entire East Coast. NatWest, the US unit of National Westminster Plc of London, has $32 billion in assets, about the same amount as Shawmut.

A deal with NatWest, if completed, would be among the biggest in US banking. Fleet would have $113 billion in assets ...

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