TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 17, 2010--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said its ratings and outlook on Bank of Montreal (BMO; A+/Stable/A-1) are unchanged following the bank's announced acquisition of Marshall&Ilsley Corp. (M&I: BB+/Negative/--). BMO today agreed to purchase M&I, a US$52 billion retail and commercial bank headquartered in Wisconsin, for US$4.1 billion, which it will finance with stock. BMO intends to raise C$800 million in additional common equity. In addition, it intends to repay M&I's US$1.7 billion in Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) preferred equity without materially reducing its capital ratios. The announced transaction is scheduled to close prior to July, 31, 2011. We view the transaction as ratings neutral to BMO. Standard&Poor's believes
