Chicago-area Charter One branches sold to U.S. Bank

RBS Citizens Financial Group said Tuesday it has agreed to sell 94 Charter One branches in the Chicago area to U.S. Bank for $315 million.

Charter One employees will be offered comparable jobs at U.S. Bank, RBS said.

RBS will keep many of its commercial and consumer lending operations in the metro area.

“This transaction will allow us to focus our efforts on our primary Citizens Bank and Charter One markets where we have stronger market positions and better long-term growth prospects,” chairman and CEO Bruce Van Saun said in a news release.

“We feel that U.S. Bank is a good buyer of our Chicago region branch-based business, and we will work hard to ensure a smooth transition for our customers and colleagues who will be going to U.S. Bank.”

The sale includes the 94 branch offices, $5.3 billion in local deposits and $1.1 billion in locally originated loans.

U.S. Bank’s Chicago presence will double with the deal. U.S. Bank had 90 branches with just over $6 billion in deposits as of June 30.

The sale was first reported by chicagobusiness.com.