CHICAGO, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Harris and BMO Financial Group (TSX, NYSE: BMO) announced they have received all required regulatory and shareholder approval and expect to close the acquisitions of Ozaukee Bank and Merchants and Manufacturers Bancorporation, Inc., later this month. Harris and BMO announced in July 2007 a definitive agreement for BMO to purchase Ozaukee Bank, a community bank with six full-service and two limited-service locations in the northern part of the greater Milwaukee area. Additionally, Harris and BMO announced a definitive agreement to purchase Merchants and Manufacturers (OTC:MMBI) (BULLETIN BOARD: MMBI) . Also headquartered in the Milwaukee area, Merchants and Manufacturers operates 34 full-service and 11 limited-service locations in an area concentrated in Milwaukee, and extending into Green Bay to the north and LaCrosse to the west. "Harris, Ozaukee Bank and Merchants & Manufacturers share the same commitment to helping customers reach their goals by making smart financial decisions, and ensuring our communities prosper through active support as engaged corporate partners," said Ellen Costello, Chief Executive Officer, Harris Bankcorp, Inc. "We look forward to building on the foundations of these great banks to better serve customers, grow our business and enrich the communities we serve." About Harris Harris is an integrated financial services organization that provides more than one million personal and business customers with banking, lending, investing, financial planning, trust administration, portfolio management, family office and wealth transfer services through a network of more than 230 branches, nearly 600 Harris-branded ATMs and additional wealth management offices in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Virginia and Washington. For more information, please visit http://www.harrisbank.com/ BMO Financial Group Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified North American financial services organization. With total assets of US$376.4 billion as at October 31, 2007, and nearly 36,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions. BMO Financial Group serves clients across Canada through its Canadian retail arm, BMO Bank of Montreal, and through its wealth management firms BMO Nesbitt Burns, BMO InvestorLine and BMO Harris Private Banking. BMO Capital Markets, our North American investment and corporate banking division, provides a full suite of financial products and services to our North American and international clients. BMO also serves personal and commercial customers in the United States through Chicago-based Harris. CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release includes forward-looking statements that are intended to be covered by the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable Canadian securities legislation. These forward-looking statements include but are not limited to comments with respect to the objectives and strategies, financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Bank of Montreal, Ozaukee Bank and Merchants and Manufacturers. However, by their nature these forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and the risk that predictions and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. Bank of Montreal cautions readers of this news release not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important factors could cause actual future results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. DATASOURCE: Harris CONTACT: Media Relations, Amy Yuhn of Harris, Chicago, +1-312-461-2478, ; or Ralph Marranca, Toronto, +1-416-867-3996, , or Ronald Monet, Montreal, +1-514-877-1101, , or Investor Relations, Viki Lazaris, Toronto, +1-416-867-6656, , or Steve Bonin, Toronto, +1-416-867-5452, , or Krista White, Toronto, +1-416-867-7019, , all for Harris Web site: http://www.harrisbank.com/

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