Bank of Montreal agrees deal to buy UK's F&C for 708 million pounds

LONDON (Reuters) - Canada's Bank of Montreal (TOR:BMO) confirmed on Tuesday it will acquire UK fund manager F&C Asset Management (LSE:FCAM), operator of the world's oldest investment trust, for an agreed 708 million pounds ($1.17 billion) in cash to expand its wealth management arm.

The announcement follows a statement from F&C on Monday that it had received an offer, sending its shares up 28 percent at one point, to close at 116.4 pence.

F&C said its shareholders will be entitled to receive 120 pence in cash for each F&C share held.

The fund manager, which traces its roots back to the launch of the Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust (LSE:FRCL) in 1868, also updated the market, saying it had 82.1 billion pounds of assets under management at the end of 2013, down from 90.1 billion three months earlier.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Jason Neely)