Royal Bank of Canada has signed a definitive to acquire Boston-based Tucker Anthony Sutro and merge it with the bank’s U.S. broker-dealer, Minneapolis-based Dain Rauscher Inc.

The merger will create the ninth largest full-service securities firm in the United States, with nearly 2,100 investment executives serving individual clients from coast to coast.

As a result of the merger, shareholders will receive US$24 per share in cash. The equity value of the transaction is US$625 million on a diluted basis.

Following the transaction, the name of the combined entity will be changed to RBC Dain Rauscher.

“The acquisition of Tucker Anthony Sutro is consistent with our North American growth strategy,” said Gordon Nixon, Royal Bank’s president and CEO. “The firm adds substantial talent and critical mass to the U.S. growth platform we established with the purchase of Dain Rauscher earlier this year, and provides the geographic coverage the wealth management businesses need to become truly national in scope.”

“We are very pleased to be aligning with such a strong and strategically like-minded partner,” said John H. Goldsmith, chairman and CEO of Tucker Anthony Sutro. “Dain Rauscher and Tucker Anthony have similar histories, values and goals.”

The newly expanded RBC Dain Rauscher will continue to be based in Minneapolis under the leadership of Irving Weiser, chairman, president and CEO, Dain Rauscher.

“We believe this merger of similar firms will result in an organization that is greater than the sum of its parts,” Weiser said, noting that the merger strengthens each of the firm’s major business units. “Dain Rauscher and Tucker Anthony have a similar heritage: we are client-focused, service oriented and entrepreneurial. This combination positions us well to compete on a national scale.”

Goldsmith will become vice chairman of RBC Dain Rauscher, and John F. Luikart, president of Tucker Anthony Sutro and chairman and CEO, Sutro & Company, will become executive vice president.

Tucker Anthony Sutro has a significant U.S. distribution capability that includes nearly 1,000 private client investment executives and more than 80 offices in 22 states, located predominantly on the east and west coasts. Its retail client base includes 300,000 accounts representing assets under administration of US$48 billion.

Royal Bank of Canada’s wealth management presence in North America will grow to more than 3,500 investment advisers with nearly 300 brokerage offices, $177 billion in assets under administration and $81 billion in assets under management.

The merger is subject to approval by Canadian and U.S. regulators and stockholders of Tucker Anthony Sutro. and to other customary closing conditions. The deal is expected to close this autumn.