Fed Blesses PNC Financial’s Plan to Acquire Colorado’s FirstBank

The US Federal Reserve gave PNC Financial Services Group Inc. the nod to purchase Colorado-based FirstBank Holding Co.

The approval, announced in a statement late Thursday by the Fed, clears the way for the takeover by Pittsburgh-based PNC, a super-regional that ranks as the ninth-largest insured deposit institution in the US. It’s also the 19th-largest in Colorado, controlling about $1.7 billion of deposits, which represent less than 1% of the total in that state, the Fed said.

FirstBank has consolidated assets of approximately $26.6 billion, the regulator said.

The Department of Justice conducted a review of the potential competitive effects ...