Jim Dobbs

The $168 million deal would mark the third acquisition of 2022 for Seacoast and continue a years-long effort to bulk up via M&A.

The acquisitive Massachusetts company said it would pay $146.5 million to acquire Randolph and its $800 million-asset subsidiary, Envision Bank.

The pace of deal activity in 2022 is far lighter than it was a year earlier. "Going forward as an industry, we're going to be more selective because of the elongated approval process,” said Jim Ryan III, CEO of Old National Bancorp. Additionally, rising interest rates have led sellers to demand bigger payouts.

The Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, institution uses a fleet of traveling branches to reach far-flung customers who largely eschew modern technology.

The two similarly named companies had planned to merge. At issue is whether Amalgamated Financial in the Big Apple violated terms of that agreement when it called off the deal in February.

Banking executives and analysts worry that the Federal Reserve's aggressive plan to raise interest rates will be insufficient to tame inflation and overcome economic fallout from the war in Ukraine.

Tim Hicks, the Arkansas company’s chief administrative officer, will succeed Greg McKinney as CFO in June. Meanwhile, Cindy Wolfe will be promoted to the newly created role of chief operating officer.

Mike Roffler takes over at a time when the San Francisco bank’s focus on mortgage lending is expected to come under pressure from rising rates.

The San Francisco bank promoted its president, Mike Roffler, to the top job. He succeeds founder Jim Herbert, who has been on medical leave and now becomes executive chairman.

With the Russia-Ukraine conflict intensifying and prices soaring, the bank could be among many to report similar issues in the first quarter.