Bank M&A's Hot Start to 2014
February 18, 2014 11:00 AM
Mergers and acquisitions have gained steam in early 2014. Here is a rundown of the whole-bank deals, shedding of noncore businesses and swapping of securities so far this year.
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Carolina Domino Effect?
VantageSouth in Raleigh, N.C., and Yadkin Financial in Elkin, N.C., announced plans in late January for a $300 million merger . VantageSouth CEO Scott Custer will lead the bank. The MOE is expected to force other North Carolina banks to decide whether to become buyers or sellers.
Bloomberg News
Cost-Cutting Focus
ConnectOne in Englewood, N.J., is merging with Center Bancorp in Union, N.J., in another MOE-like deal that would create a $3 billion-asset bank and is meant to produce $7 million in annual cost savings. Frank Sorrentino of ConnectOne will become the CEO.
Going for Seconds
Washington Federal agreed in January to buy more branches from Bank of America , this time snagging 23 in Arizona and Nevada. Washington Federal disclosed this month that it saw a $500 million drop-off in deposits at 51 branches it had previously purchased from B of A.
Bloomberg News
Wells Aims for Repositioning
Wells Fargo agreed last month to sell more than 40% of its insurance brokerage offices to USI Insurance Services so that it can focus on bigger clients and high-growth markets. Meanwhile, New York regulators this month blocked Wells plan to sell mortgage-servicing rights to Ocwen Financial .
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Eyes on Texas
Bound for the Auction Block
A group of private-equity firms has agreed to place the first bid in bankruptcy court for 1st Mariner Bank in Baltimore. Bankruptcy sales are slowly catching on as a way for sellers who are saddled with deferred payments on trust-preferred securities to unload their bank units.
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Bulking Up
TriCo Bancshares in Chico, Calif., is buying North Valley Bancorp to create a $3.5 billion-asset company in California. TriCo CEO Rick Smith aims to take on the countrys biggest banks in the combined company's rural markets.
Stung by Volcker
A number of community banks, including Webster Financial, Cortland Bancorp and Defiance Financial, reported quarterly losses tied to certain securities that were not exempted from the Volcker Rule. A silver lining: Webster managed to sell its securities for a decent gain .
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