Record Offer for Marine Midland Bank

Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp. said Wednesday that it had proposed to buy the 48% of Marine Midland Banks Inc. it does not already own, in what would ultimately be a $1.32-billion deal and the costliest bank acquisition ever in the United States.

The offer places a value of $1.32 billion for all of the shares of Marine Midland, just over the record $1.3 billion paid by Fleet Financial Corp. to acquire its fellow New England bank Norstar Bancorp in March.

Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., based in Hong Kong, is one the 25 biggest banking companies in the world. It offered to pay $70 a share in cash or about $630 million for the outstanding shares of Buffalo, N.Y.-based Marine. It already holds 52% of the 18.87 million common shares of Marine and said it expects no legal barrier in completing the acquisition.

Hongkong & Shanghai said it asked Marine, the country’s 19th-biggest bank in terms of assets, to convene a special meeting of shareholders.

The Hong Kong bank also said that Marine Midland would remain an independent entity, with its headquarters remaining in Buffalo and New York City.