People's United to Close 15 Branches

People's United Financial Inc. in Bridgeport, Conn., is moving to streamline its operations after making five acquisitions in less than three years.

The $28 billion-asset company will close 15 of its 372 branches in 2012, including three in Massachusetts over the next month, the Boston Globe reported Wednesday. The branches overlap with other branches nearby.

People's United Chief Executive Jack Barnes said in a presentation to investors and analysts in September that the company would focus on growing organically and cutting overhead costs by roughly $23 million a year. Barnes set the goal of slashing the company's efficiency ratio from nearly 66% at June 30 to 55% within two years. At Dec. 31, its efficiency ratio was 62.7%.

Since the beginning of 2009, People's United has bought four banking companies in New England and New York in addition to an equipment financing company in New York. It has roughly doubled its assets since it converted from a mutual holding company to a 100% stock-owned one in 2007.

The Globe also said that Bank of America Corp. intends to close two branches in Massachusetts on June 1 as part of a broader plan to eliminate 750 of its 5,700 branches over the next few years. B of A has the No. 1 market share in Massachusetts, controlling nearly 23% of state's deposits in its more than 275 branches.