Harris Trust & Savings Bank last week disclosed that it is getting bigger and smaller.
Owned by the Bank of Montreal, Harris said it was buying the 54 small branches of Household Bank in the Chicago area for $277 million. Household Bank is a subsidiary of Prospect Heights-based Household International Inc.
When the purchase is completed this summer, Harris will have the state’s largest bank network–140 locations. In assets, though, it will still trail First Chicago NBD Corp. by a Chicago Bulls-like margin, $110 billion to $18 billion.
This is the second big deal disclosed for the rapidly consolidating Chicago banking market in the last month. ABN AMRO N.V., parent of the Chicago-based LaSalle banking group, purchased the 25 branches in this area of Comerica Bank-Illinois for $190 million.
