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RBC Centura expands footprint in fast-growing Southeastern
U.S.
Acquires 39 AmSouth branches in Alabama
RALEIGH, NC, November 1, 2006 — RBC Centura
Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RY
on NYSE and TSX), and AmSouth Bancorporation (ASO on NYSE)
today announced the signing of an agreement pursuant to which
RBC Centura Bank will acquire 39 branches in Alabama owned
by AmSouth Bank. The acquisition, which is expected to be
completed in March 2007, is subject to customary closing conditions,
including approval by U.S. federal and state regulators. Terms
of the transaction were not disclosed.
"Alabama is a strategic and logical extension of our
current footprint and banking center network," said Scott
Custer, chief executive officer of RBC Centura. "Key
Alabama markets closely resemble other diverse and growing
markets in which RBC Centura has had a long-time presence
and solid understanding."
The Alabama economy has grown faster than the broader U.S.
economy since 2001, a trend that is expected to continue.
In addition, job growth in the state has been faster than
the national average since early 2004 and business spending
through 2006 is expected to continue to be strong. "This
acquisition provides us with an attractive client and business
base that supports RBC Centura's overall strategy of disciplined,
affordable investments to expand our distribution network,"
said Custer.
Acquiring the 39 branches provides RBC Centura with immediate
scale and assets in Alabama, making RBC Centura the state's
seventh largest financial institution by deposits. Combined,
the 39 branches RBC Centura is acquiring have approximately
$1.5 billion in loans and $2.0 billion in deposits as of July
31, 2006. The branches are being divested by AmSouth, as a
result of the pending merger between AmSouth and Regions Financial
Corp., and their agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice
and the Federal Reserve Board. All employees of the branches
will be offered positions at RBC Centura.
"This acquisition satisfies our criteria for finding
opportunities that have a good economic, strategic and cultural
fit. Moving into Alabama with immediate scale and opportunity
is an exciting milestone for RBC Centura that complements
our growth strategies in the region, including our de novo
branch approach in high-growth markets in the Southeastern
U.S.," Custer said.
This is the second acquisition that RBC Centura has announced
in 2006. In August, RBC Centura announced its intention to
acquire Flag Financial Corporation, which operates 17 branches
serving approximately 22,000 households in the metro Atlanta,
central and western areas of Georgia. The Flag transaction
is tracking on schedule to close December 8, 2006.
In addition to RBC Centura, RBC's U.S. operations include:
RBC Dain Rauscher, a full-service securities firm; RBC Insurance,
a national provider of insurance protection and asset accumulation
solutions; RBC Capital Markets, with corporate and investment
banking operations in New York, Minneapolis, San Francisco,
Houston and other select U.S. locations; and Global Private
Banking with offices in New York, Miami, Houston and San Francisco.
About RBC Centura Bank
RBC Centura offers a wide range of financial services and
advice, including a complete line of banking, investment,
loan, mortgage, life insurance, and other services, to individuals,
businesses and public institutions throughout the Southeast.
RBC Centura's multifaceted customer access network includes
more than 270 full-service banking centers, an extensive ATM
network, and telephone and Internet banking. In addition,
RBC Centura offers builder finance products through telephone
and Internet banking. According to the Federal Reserve Board,
RBC Centura is the 50th largest U.S. commercial bank as of
June 2005. RBC Centura Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Additional information about RBC
Centura may be found at www.rbccentura.com.
About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada (RY on NYSE and TSX) uses the initials
RBC as a prefix for its businesses and operating subsidiaries,
which operate under the master brand name of RBC Financial
Group. Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest bank as measured
by market capitalization and assets, and is one of North America's
leading diversified financial services companies. It provides
personal and commercial banking, wealth management services,
insurance, corporate and investment banking, and transaction
processing services on a global basis. The company employs
approximately 70,000 full and part-time employees who serve
more than 14 million personal, business and public sector
clients through offices in North America and some 30 countries
around the world. For more information, please visit www.rbc.com.
Media Contacts:
Kristen Doherty, RBC Centura, (919) 788-6076, kristen.doherty@rbc.com
Beja Rodeck, RBC, (416) 974-5506, 1-888-880-2173, beja.rodeck@rbc.com
Investor contacts:
Dave Mun, Investor Relations, RBC, (416) 955-7808, dave.mun@rbc.com
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Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may be
deemed to be forward-looking statements under certain securities
laws, including the "safe harbor" provisions of
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 and in any applicable Canadian securities legislation,
and Royal Bank of Canada ("RBC") intends that such
forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor created
thereby. The words "may," "could," "should,"
"would," "suspect," "outlook,"
"believe," "plan," "anticipate,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend,"
"forecast," "objective" and words and
expressions of similar import are intended to identify forward-looking
statements.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve
numerous assumptions, and inherent risks and uncertainties,
both general and specific, and risks exist that predictions,
forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements,
including statements about the proposed acquisition of branches
from AmSouth Bancorporation ("AmSouth") by RBC Centura,
will not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue
reliance on these statements as a number of important factors
could cause our actual results to differ materially from the
beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates
and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements.
These factors include, but are not limited to the possibility
that the proposed transaction does not close when expected
or at all because required regulatory, shareholder or other
approvals are not received or other conditions to the closing
are not satisfied on a timely basis or at all, that RBC Centura
and AmSouth may be required to modify the terms and conditions
of the proposed transaction to achieve regulatory approval,
that the Alabama economy and business spending does not continue to grow as expected,
or that the anticipated benefits of the transaction are not
realized as a result of such things as the strength of the
economy and competitive factors in the areas where the AMSouth
branches do business; the impact of changes in the laws and
regulations regulating financial services and enforcement
thereof (including banking, insurance and securities); judicial
judgments and legal proceedings; RBC Centura's ability to
complete the acquisition of the branches and to integrate
them with RBC Centura successfully; reputational risks, and
other factors that may affect future results of RBC including
changes in trade policies, timely development and introduction
of new products and services, changes in tax laws, and technological
and regulatory changes. We caution that the foregoing list
of important factors is not exhaustive.
RBC assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements
contained in this press release.
Expectations of the Alabama economy and
business spending are based on our review of publicly available
third party economic analysis and reports.
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