Top Bank M&A Deals of 2016

December 22, 2016 9:00 AM

The overall pace of consolidation slowed this year, but the average deal value increased from 2015 as bigger banks continued to get back into mergers and acquisitions. Several of this year's sellers were banks that had been backed by private equity in search of growth or a post-crisis turnaround.

BUYER: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
SELLER: PrivateBancorp
DEAL VALUE: $3.8 billion
ANNOUNCED: June 29
STATUS: Shareholder vote delayed

A Canadian bank is on the buying end of the biggest deal for the second straight year. (Royal Bank of Canada was in the same seat in 2015.) A run-up in PrivateBancorp's stock price has cast some doubt over the agreement; the Chicago-based seller postponed a special meeting after complaints surfaced about the deal's exchange ratio. Victor Dodig, CIBC's CEO, has said he can wait for stock prices to come back down before proceeding.

BUYER: Huntington Bancshares
SELLER: FirstMerit
DEAL VALUE: $3.4 billion
ANNOUNCED: Jan. 26
STATUS: Completed in August

Huntington CEO Stephen Steinour set the tone for bank M&A in 2016 when he inked a deal early in the year for the $26 billion-asset FirstMerit, combining two large Ohio banks. Huntington, based in Columbus, also pledged to spend millions of dollars for awarding grants and opening branches in underserved markets.

BUYER: TIAA
SELLER: EverBank
DEAL VALUE: $2.5 billion
ANNOUNCED: Aug. 8
STATUS: Set to close by June 30

TIAA in New York announced the year's biggest all-cash deal when it agreed to buy EverBank in Jacksonville, Fla. The agreement would give the insurance and retirement services behemoth access to billions of dollars in low-cost deposits and would raise the profile of Kathie Andrade, CEO of retail financial services at TIAA. Sageview Partners, one of EverBank's private-equity backers, recently cashed out.

BUYER: F.N.B. Corp.
SELLER: Yadkin Financial
DEAL VALUE: $1.5 billion
ANNOUNCED: July 27
STATUS: Set to close in the first quarter

Vincent Delie (left), CEO of Pittsburgh-based F.N.B., surprised a number of people when he announced plans to enter North Carolina by buying Yadkin in Raleigh. Yadkin, led by CEO Scott Custer and backed by private equity, and F.N.B. were on last year's list as acquirers.

BUYER: Chemical Financial
SELLER: Talmer Bancorp
DEAL VALUE: $1.1 billion
ANNOUNCED: Jan. 26
STATUS: Completed in August

Chemical in Midland, Mich., led by David Ramaker, took a big leap over the $10 billion-asset threshold that brings more regulatory scrutiny when it bought Talmer Bancorp in Troy, another institution that made acquisitions after the financial crisis with the support of private equity.

BUYER: United Bankshares
SELLER: Cardinal Financial
DEAL VALUE: $911 million
ANNOUNCED: Aug. 8
STATUS: Set to close in mid-2017

United in Charleston, W.Va., is making a big play in northern Virginia by agreeing to buy Cardinal in Tysons Corner, Va. United CEO Richard Adams would also snag the mortgage lender George Mason Mortgage and the wealth management firm Cardinal Wealth Services as part of the deal.

BUYER: First Interstate BancSystem
SELLER: Cascade Bancorp
DEAL VALUE: $588 million
ANNOUNCED: Nov. 17
STATUS: Set to close in mid-2017

First Interstate in Billings, Mont., led by CEO Kevin Riley (left), also decided to pursue a big acquisition to catapult over $10 billion in assets. Cascade's sale would cap an impressive turnaround of the Bend, Ore., bank by CEO Terry Zink. Lightyear Capital and Invesco Private Capital remain among Cascade's biggest shareholders.

BUYER: Simmons First
SELLER: Southwest Bancorp
DEAL VALUE: $564 million
ANNOUNCED: Dec. 14
STATUS: Set to close in the third quarter

Several big deals were announced late in the year, including this one. Simmons First in Pine Bluff, Ark., led by CEO George Makris Jr., would enter Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas through the acquisition of Southwest in Stillwater, Okla.

BUYER: Old National Bancorp
SELLER: Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin
DEAL VALUE: $443 million
ANNOUNCED: Jan. 12
STATUS: Completed in May

Old National in Evansville, Ind., led by CEO Bob Jones (left), seemingly breezed through the approval process to buy Anchor in Madison, Wis., which was its biggest acquisition to date. As was the case for many of the executives involved in this year's deals, the sale was validation for the turnaround efforts of Anchor CEO Chris Bauer.

BUYER: Independent Bank Group
SELLER: Carlile Bancshares
DEAL VALUE: $434 million
ANNOUNCED: Nov. 21
STATUS: Set to close in the second quarter

This deal between Texas banks was the only one on the 2016 list that involved a privately held seller. Independent, based in McKinney, would add 42 branches, including 18 in Colorado.