Connecticut

Webster Financial Corp. in Waterbury, Conn.,is raising capital to pay off the balance of the Treasury Department's investment under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Shareholders of First Niagara Financial Group Inc. and NewAlliance Bancshares Monday overwhelmingly approved their merger agreement despite strong disapproval from Connecticut officials.

The city of New Haven, Conn., is asking federal and state regulators to block the proposed $1.5 billion sale of NewAlliance Bancshares Inc. in New Haven to First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo, N.Y., claiming the transaction would not meet the "needs or convenience" of the community.

People's United Financial Inc. in Bridgeport, Conn., has completed its purchases of LSB Corp. and Smithtown Bancorp Inc.

The $889.4 million-asset company said late Wednesday that it was selling about 62% of its stock still owned by its mutual holding company, or up to 8.7 million shares of common stock, at $8 a share.

After an infusion of $50 million of fresh capital, Patriot National Bancorp Inc. in Stamford, Conn., joins the ranks of struggling community bank companies that are moving from retrenchment to recovery.

Patriot National Bancorp Inc. of Stamford, Conn., announced late Friday that it had received a $50 million capital infusion from PNBK Holdings LLC to recapitalize its bank.

Webster Financial Corp. in Waterbury, Conn., Friday announced that it posted earnings of $22.7 million in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $19.25 million a year earlier.

The $866 million-asset company in Stamford, Conn., announced Friday that both the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had approved a $50 million investment from PNBK Holdings LLC, a firm backed by New York investor Michael A. Carrazza.

In the months leading up to its deal with First Niagara Financial Group, NewAlliance Bancshares Inc. entertained an offer from another suitor, while continuing to woo a potential acquisition target.

Even with something few aspiring de novos can claim — $25 million of initial capital — launching has been a long, complicated process for Start Community Bank.

Naugatuck Valley Financial Corp. in Naugatuck, Conn., has amended its merger agreement with Southern Connecticut Bancorp Inc. in New Haven, blaming weakened stock market conditions.

Patriot National Bancorp Inc. in Stamford, Conn., has extended the deadline for its recapitalization deal for a second time.

Shareholders of Patriot National Bancorp Inc. in Stamford, Conn., have approved a deal to recapitalize the company.

One major question about First Niagara's deal to buy NewAlliance remains unanswered: what role Peyton Patterson, the seller's chief executive and one of the most prominent bankers in New England, will play in the post-merger company.

The market is only gelling for buyers and sellers that meet some rather stringent criteria.

Sitting on a pile of cash from an initial public offering six years ago, NewAlliance Bancshares seemed poised to make a big acquisition. So it came as a surprise to many in the banking world Thursday when the company announced that it is being acquired by First Niagara Financial Group for $1.5 billion in a deal that would create one of the top 25 U.S.-based commercial banks.

Webster Financial Corp. in Waterbury, Conn., on Friday said second-quarter earnings declined 24.2% from a year earlier. The $17.7 billion-asset company had net income of $12.7 million for the quarter, dropping from $16.8 million.

People's United Financial in Bridgeport, Conn., is on a shopping spree up and down the Northeast. The $22 billion-asset company announced late Thursday that it reached agreements to buy Smithtown Bancorp in Hauppauge, N.Y. and LSB Corp. in North Andover, Mass. Both are contiguous to People's United's existing market.

New England Bancshares Inc. swung to a profit of $700,000 for its fiscal fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $1 million a year earlier, as net interest income improved and credit costs fell.