CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 9, 2019--Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) announced today that Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. has entered into an agreement with Principal Financial Group® (Nasdaq: PFG) to sell its Institutional Retirement & Trust (IRT) business, which includes its retirement plan recordkeeping and administrative services (401(k) and pension plans), executive deferred compensation (non-qualified plans), institutional trust and custody and institutional asset advisory businesses. The transaction, which is expected to close early in the third quarter of 2019, subject to receipt of required regulatory approval, will create one of the largest retirement providers in the industry.
Principal Financial Group ® serves more than 24 million customers with retirement, asset management and insurance solutions to help them build and protect their financial well-being. Founded 140 years ago, Principal is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, with 16,000 employees located around the world.
Wells Fargo Securities, the investment banking arm of Wells Fargo, served as exclusive financial advisor to Wells Fargo in connection with the transaction. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as Wells Fargo’s legal advisor in connection with the transaction. Financial details related to the transaction, including the sale’s expected gain to Wells Fargo, will be disclosed when the transaction is completed. Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is anticipated to close in the third quarter.
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,800 locations, more than 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 37 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 259,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo was ranked No. 26 on Fortune’s 2018 rankings of America’s largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.
This news release contains forward-looking statements about our future financial performance and business. Because forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding the future, they are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Do not unduly rely on forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from expectations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we do not undertake to update them to reflect changes or events that occur after that date. For information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations, refer to our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the “Forward-Looking Statements” discussion in Wells Fargo’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as well as to Wells Fargo’s other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, available on its website at www.sec.gov.