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Conversion activity has declined in recent years, though some observers believe mutual thrifts could find market conditions more accommodating in coming months.
January 23 -
Reversing a trend of the past two years, more mutual thrift companies are announcing plans to sell shares and convert to stock companies.
March 1 -
Less than two months after completing two small acquisitions, People's United in Bridgeport, Conn., has struck again with a $493 million deal for Danvers Bancorp.
January 21 -
Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. in Lititz, Pa., announced an agreement to buy Abington Bancorp Inc. in Jenkinton, Pa.
January 27 -
The Massachusetts company has grown in upstate New York by buying Rome Bancorp and opening about a dozen branches in recent years.
June 1 -
The list of potential bank buyers is growing at a faster rate than the ranks of sellers, according to a new research note by KBW Inc.'s Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc.
March 12 -
Joseph Stilwell is trying to gain seats on the mutual holding company's board with the solitary goal of getting the management team to sell.
March 8 -
Deals in Texas were pricey and plentiful in the first five months of the year, new data show. The state set the pace for rapid bank consolidation once before, and it could do so again.
June 19
Happy third anniversary, OmniAmerican Bancorp. Inquiring M&A minds want to know: how do you plan to celebrate?
Monday marked three years since the $1.3 billion-asset OmniAmerican (OABC) in Fort Worth, Texas, converted from a mutual savings bank to a stock corporation. Regulations bar converted mutuals from selling themselves during their first three years, and speculation usually heats up as they approach that milestone.
Two dozen banks will reach the three-year mark this year;
Like most things in Texas, the buzz around in OmniAmerican is big. Its stock price rose from $16 a share in January 2012 to more than $25 in the past week, with observers saying the increase is largely investors hopeful for a sale. That new height exceeds its book value of $17.91 per share at Sept. 30 and its $10 share price upon conversion in 2010.
"There is such a scarcity of available institutions with any sizable footprint," says Theodore Kovaleff, president of Informed Sources Service Group and an investor in OmniAmerican. "My guess is that they will fetch a very nice premium, and I would say to you that a lot of the speculation is already factored into the price."
To be clear, there is no specific rumor about OmniAmerican selling and rightfully so. Converted mutuals are barred from any kind of serious discussions before their third anniversary.
Randi Mitchell, a senior vice president of marketing for OmniAmerican, said the company could not discuss potential deals.
"Banks in Texas are always considered attractive targets because of the state's robust performance throughout the economic downturn and its quick rebound," she said in an email. "OmniAmerican Bank has a strong strategic plan for organic growth."
Stock prices have soared at other banks that will cross the threshold in the first half of 2013, like Athens Bancshares (AFCB), OBA Financial Services (OBAF), Fairmount Bancorp (FMTB) and Oritani Financial (ORIT).
Investors hopes have a solid foundation. Roughly three-fourths of the 670 conversions between 1990 and 2009 have been sold, and the average time was 4.16 years after their standard or second-step conversion, data from FJ Capital Management show.
Regardless of the final decision, the third anniversary is a good time to assess the company and its prospects if it decides to stay independent, says Kip Weissman, a partner at Luse Gorman Pomerenk & Schick.
"It is an obvious time to take a moment to evaluate the overall environment and the bank's ability to remain competitive and generate stockholder value," Weissman says. "The third anniversary is a red letter day - the bank, its stockholders and interested third parties all circle that date as soon as the conversion closes. But that doesn't necessarily mean it will sell after three years."
There are several other reasons for the speculation about OmniAmerican. The converted mutual, which began its life as a credit union, is struggling slightly with things like the cost of its interest-bearing deposits and its ability to grow loans. It has a 15-branch network in Fort Worth that several sources described as attractive. And
"I do know that they don't have the earnings that they should have," says Daniel Bass, a managing director at Performance Trust Capital Partners. "I would assume they are getting talked to, [and] they have such a good footprint in Fort Worth from a buyer's perspective."
Brady Gailey, an analyst at KBW Inc., wrote in a note in October following the company's third-quarter earnings release that he believes a "
OmniAmerican is scheduled to issue fourth-quarter results on Feb. 28.
Activist shareholders are also often a source in driving converted mutuals to sell. Joseph Stilwell, a noted activist, has been talking about
OmniAmerican has at least one activist among its shareholders: Warren Mackey. Mackey holds a 4.99% stake but describes himself as a "constructive activist," not a "hostile" one. He said in an interview on Tuesday he isn't pushing for a sale, though his regulatory filings say he wants to make sure the company is enhancing shareholder value.
"Shareholders should be happy. They do most of the right things and haven't done anything stupid and the stock has done extraordinarily well," Mackey says. "I've never initiated a conversation with them on M&A. …They have a great board of directors and senior management, and I think they will do the right thing for shareholders."
