ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 22, 1995                   TAG: 9502220114
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Short

2 NEW ENGLAND BANKS TO MERGE

New England's largest bank is buying out the region's third-largest bank in' a deal valued at $3.7 billion.

Fleet Financial Group Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to buy Shawmut National Corp. If approved by regulators and shareholders, the deal is expected to result in 3,000 job losses as the companies trim overlapping operations.

The new company, to be called the Fleet Financial Group, would have its headquarters in Boston. The combined assets would be more than $80 billion, making it the ninth-largest bank in the nation. Fleet is based in Providence, R.I., while Shawmut is based in Boston and Hartford, Conn.

-Associated Press 


 by CNB