Pittsburgh-based FNB Corp. is moving to expand its capital markets capacity, striking a deal to acquire a 20-year-old boutique investment bank.
Acquiree Raptor Partners is also headquartered in Pittsburgh. Founded in 2005, Raptor counts mergers and acquisitions as a principal area of focus. Raptor says it's participated in hundreds of transactions with an aggregate value approaching $40 billion.
The deal for Raptor comes after several of FNB's regional bank peers — including
Expanding capital markets capabilities is a key component of FNB's strategy, Chairman and CEO Vincent Delie said Tuesday in a press release. Adding Raptor positions the $49 billion-asset FNB to better serve its middle-market and corporate clients, who might otherwise look outside the bank for advice.
"The addition of investment banking rounds out our offerings, enabling FNB to provide clients with advisory services throughout their entire business life cycle," Delie said in the release.
FNB's existing capital markets group generated income totaling $24.2 million in 2024. While that total represented an 11% decline from 2023, Delie said capital markets revenue has increased significantly over the past decade. FNB reported capital markets income totaling $10.2 million in 2015.
"We are excited to join with FNB to offer financial advisory services to new and existing clients," Raptor Partners Founder and President Craig Wolfanger said in the press release. Wolfanger added that Raptor's long experience helping broker M&A deals would bring "a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and experience to FNB."
FNB did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment at deadline.
FNB's planned acquisition of Raptor followed a busy week for bank M&A, with five deals announced between March 31 and April 4. Some analysts and bank executives expect that pace to slow significantly as uncertainty surrounding the impact of
"The latest tariffs … are ricocheting in the markets, and any substantial offensive bank M&A is also likely to evaporate," Seaport Research Partners senior analyst Laurie Havener Hunsicker wrote Monday in a research note.
Acquisitions seem "hard to imagine" in the current climate, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon wrote Monday in a
FNB's most recent whole bank acquisitions include
The merger with UB was part of an expansion in North and South Carolina that has seen FNB acquire two banks, open a number of de novo branches and install hundreds of automatic teller machines across the two-state region since 2016.
