Swiss banking giant UBS announced today that it will acquire the branch network of McDonald Investments, a unit of KeyCorp, for up to US$280 million.

Cleveland-based McDonald Investments has approximately 340 financial advisors and 280 field support staff, 165,000 accounts and total client assets of approximately US$30 billion. It provides comprehensive wealth management services to affluent and high net worth individuals, including estate planning, retirement planning and asset management solutions.

McDonald Investments has 51 branch offices throughout the Northeast, Midwest, Rocky Mountain and Northwest states. The network includes the offices of Gradison and Gradison Asset Management. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007, subject to regulatory approval.

“This transaction is an excellent fit for UBS,” said Marten Hoekstra, head of UBS Wealth Management US. “With this acquisition, we associate ourselves with a group of talented and highly productive financial advisors immersed in the same client-centric, holistic wealth management philosophy that is practiced at UBS Wealth Management. This transaction, coupled with the recent acquisition of the private client branch network of Piper Jaffray, further strengthens UBS Wealth Management’s presence in the U.S.”