BMO’s metals and mining business is the second-largest revenue generator for the bank’s investment and corporate banking unit.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Bank of Montreal BMO-T has purchased an Australia-based capital markets business as the lender expands its metals and mining investment banking unit.
The Canadian bank struck a deal to acquire the capital markets unit of Euroz Hartleys Group Ltd. – a Perth-based metals and mining-focused equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic advisory firm – for 145-million Australian dollars ($142-million) in an all-cash deal.
Australia is a major hub for the financing of the metals and mining sector, a complex and capital-intensive industry. BMO’s metals and mining business has grown significantly, and the bank sees it as a template for how it could improve in other areas.
Since 2018, revenue more than tripled in the franchise, BMO head of capital markets Alan Tannenbaum said during an investor presentation. The mining and metals business is the second-largest revenue generator in BMO’s investment and corporate banking unit, contributing 15 per cent of the division’s total revenue in 2025.
The metals and mining unit posts an average return on equity – a closely watched measure of profitability – of more than 30 per cent among clients with six or more products.
Mr. Tannenbaum has said the business offers a blueprint for BMO’s ambition to improve its bank-wide profitability. In 2024, BMO set a goal of improving its return on equity across the bank to 15 per cent by the end of 2027.
The deal bolsters the bank’s global presence in metals and mining and will improve its clients’ access to capital across markets, BMO global head of investment and corporate banking Carrie Cook said in a statement late Monday evening.
“As capital formation continues to shift globally, our clients increasingly expect seamless access to investors and opportunities across markets,” Ms. Cook said.
BMO has operated in Australia since 2004 from its office in Melbourne. After the deal closes, BMO expects about 40 employees from Euroz Hartleys to join its capital markets division.
Euroz Hartleys offers private wealth, institutional broking and corporate finance services. It expects to post revenue of as much as $142-million Australian dollars and group net profit of as much as $16-million Australian dollars for the 2026 fiscal year, the company said in a statement.
The Australian firm’s private wealth business – which provides investment advice and financial planning services to high net worth clients – will enter into a strategic agreement with BMO while remaining independent.
The transaction is expected to close later this year, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.