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The $16 billion deal would create the nation's eighth-largest bank and the dominant lender in New England.
Fleet Mortgage Group is looking to increase its mortgage production as a result of the planned merger of Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston.
William Schenck, chairman and chief executive officer at Fleet Mortgage, Columbia, S.C., said the combined company would produce a bigger distribution system in terms of bank branches, telephone systems and customer base, all of which will benefit the mortgage operation.
"It is our desire to have the shareholders benefit from that larger distribution system to attain a higher level of mortgage base," Schenck toldREFT
Fleet Financial, Providence, R.I., announced on March 14 plans to acquire BankBoston Corp. for $16 billion in stock in a deal that would create the nation's eighth-largest bank and the dominant lender in New England.
The merger will strengthen Fleet's international- and investment-banking business and give BankBoston the muscle it needs to compete against bigger financial institutions.
But the merger will result in overlapping branches and administrative operations, and the combined bank, which will be called Fleet Boston Corp., may have to cut as many as 5,000 jobs from their total work force of 59,000, according to officials from the companies.
Schenck said he did not expect any layoffs would come from the mortgage banking division.
Eugene McQuade, chief financial officer at Fleet, said the two companies have had preliminary discussions with regulators and estimated that the combined bank will have to divest about $13 billion of their $180 billion in assets.
Schenck said there is no plan to sell off any mortgage units.
The new bank will initially...