Banking & Finance

Hartland-based Town Bank plans to open a new office in a freestanding building in The Woodlands Market retail center in Menomonee Falls. The bank will hold a grand opening in the late summer or early fall.

Hot Water Products, a Milwaukee water heating products company, has acquired American Mechanical Services, a Milwaukee steam products company.

The median asking price for Milwaukee companies listed on BizBuySell.com dropped to $259,500 in the second quarter, down 5.6 percent from a year ago.

Chicago-based Taylor Capital Group Inc. announced today that Cole Taylor Bank is expanding its commercial banking business into southeastern Wisconsin through the opening of a new office in Franklin.

Investment managers are becoming less positive on the U.S. economy and corporate earnings due to the expected negative impact of a recession in Europe and slower growth in China, according to a survey conducted in the second quarter by Northern Trust Bank.

The ongoing European financial crisis, uncertainty about the U.S. economy, the impending federal government “fiscal cliff” and the upcoming U.S. presidential election will play major roles in influencing the stock market in the second half of the year.

WellPoint Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Amerigroup Corp., one of the nation's leading managed care companies that is focused on meeting the health care needs of financially vulnerable Americans.

CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) announced the acquisition of the tax and accounting business segments of AgStar Financial Services.

BrightScope, a provider of independent financial information and investment research, unveiled its 2012 list of the top 25 Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firms in the Milwaukee area.

Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC (MMA), a subsidiary of insurance broker White Plains, N.Y.-based Marsh Inc., has announced the acquisition of Wisconsin-based Security Insurance Services Inc., which has offices in New Berlin and Appleton.