Fleet Reaches Deal With Quick & Reilly

Fleet Financial Group Inc. plans to buy discount broker Quick & Reilly Group Inc. for about $1.6 billion, intensifying its push onto Wall Street where there’s great potential for revenue and profit growth.

The deal, announced Wednesday, will give Boston-based Fleet a nationwide sales network for its investment products and enhance its retail franchise with brokerage services and an array of investment choices offered by Quick & Reilly.

“What Quick & Reilly represents for us is a very effective distribution platform that can provide the necessary brokerage services and investment products to our consumer base,” said Jay Sarles, Fleet’s chief administrative officer.

Quick & Reilly, which reportedly was courted by several other potential buyers including Banc One Corp., will broaden its business by having access to Fleet’s products, its six million clients and 1,200 bank branches in the Northeast.

“Fleet bank brings us more product and that’s something we in the brokerage business continually need,” said Leslie C. Quick Jr., chairman and chief executive of Quick & Reilly.

Fleet is the nation’s 11th biggest bank. Like other commercial banks, it is looking to build new business beyond traditional loans and deposits, which industrywide appear to have hit a ceiling. Banks are now turning to Wall Street where growth is outpacing their traditional banking business .