Jackie Stewart is the executive editor of American Banker Magazine. Previously, she covered breaking news, community banks and mergers and acquisitions for American Banker before being named as the managing editor of the Credit Union Journal. After graduating from Northwestern University in 2006, Jackie taught for two years in the Bronx, N.Y., through Teach for America.
The once-prolific acquirer had been on the sidelines for more than three years while under the ownership of National Australia Bank. But it said when it was spun off from NAB that it was mulling acquisitions and on Monday it announced a deal to buy rival HF Financial for $139.5 million.
Hanmi wants to make sure that, when the dust settles, it is part of the nation's biggest Korean-American bank. The move also shows how difficult it will be for ethnic banks to gain meaningful scale while sticking to their niche groups.
American Chartered was also the top M&A priority for MB Financial, which was willing to pay a healthy premium to get a deal done. MB Financial, which prefers big acquisitions, will be challenged to find other opportunities in the Windy City.
More banks are looking to buy commercial loans for reasons ranging from a dearth of organic opportunities to a need to diversify their asset mix. That surge in demand is creating an imbalance that benefits banks that have been able to make more loans.
KeyCorp and New York Community Bancorp are among a number of buyers pledging to aggressively cut costs at acquired banks. There are plenty of ways to go about it, but acquirers risk cutting too deeply in the effort to appease wary investors.
Given that Bank of the Ozarks has agreed to pay handsomely for C1 Financial in Florida, the relatively scarce number of large institutions in the state could command higher prices from acquirers.
Sometimes it's for the best to end a complicated relationship. At least that's the view of some bankers who have negotiated early terminations of their FDIC loss-sharing agreements.
October was one of the best months in recent memory in terms of the number of deals and their aggregate value. If that pace continues, 2015 would be the strongest year for bank M&A since the financial crisis.
While executives are eager to put excess capital to work, the sell-off of KeyCorp stock following the announcement of the First Niagara deal shows investors will react swiftly and severely when it appears a buyer has overpaid.
New York Community has long wanted a deal to push it over $50 billion of assets. While Astoria accomplishes that, it does little to diversify New York Community's geography or reduce its reliance on multifamily lending.