Fulton Financial (FULT) has acquired a minority stake in Bryn Mawr Bank (BMTC), the result of Bryn Mawr's largest shareholder liquidating its holding.
Fulton, a $16.3 billion-asset multi-bank holding company based in Lancaster, Pa., has acquired a 7.3% stake – or about 970,000 shares – in Bryn Mawr, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday. The purchase price was not included in the filing, but Bryn Mawr's shares have been trading between $20 and $23 over the last two months.
Ted Peters, Bryn Mawr's chairman and chief executive of Bryn Mawr, said in a Wednesday interview that Fulton acquired the stake solely for "investment purposes" and that the deal should not be seen as a prelude to an outright acquisition.
"Fulton is a great bank," Peters said. "I've already met with [Fulton Chairman and Chief Executive] Scott Smith and he thinks we'll be a survivor."
A Fulton spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Fulton's acquired the shares from the Radnor Blind Trust, which had owned about 14% of Bryn Mawr as of March 30. Wellington Management acquired the second-largest stake from Radnor. A third acquirer of the remainder of Radnor's shares in Bryn Mawr has not yet been identified, Peters said.
Fulton is the holding company for five separate banks, including the $6.5 billion-asset Fulton Bank and the $1.4 billion-asset Lafayette Ambassador Bank of Bethlehem, Pa. Bryn Mawr is based in the Philadelphia suburb of Bryn Mawr and has $1.8 billion of assets.
Griffin Financial Group of Reading, Pa., advised Radnor on the sale of its Bryn Mawr shares, Peters said.
