Fifth Third shareholders OK Old Kent merger

3/21/2001

CINCINNATI - Fifth Third Bancorp shareholders yesterday approved the company's $4.9 billion merger with Old Kent Financial Corp., a financial services company based in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The acquisition, which is expected to be completed in early April, will increase Fifth Third Bancorp's assets from $46 billion to approximately $70 billion and give the Cincinnati-based financial services company nearly 1,000 full-service banking locations in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Arizona, and Florida.