UPDATE: 1/29/14, 5:10 p.m. EST. The names of the lawyers advising BMO from Sullivan & Cromwell and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt have been added to the sixth paragraph of this story.

BMO Financial Group, Canada’s fourth-largest lender, has retained Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to advise on its $1.2 billion acquisition of F&C Asset Management, one of the top asset managers in Europe and the United Kingdom.