Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC has completed a merger integration on this side of Atlantic and is working to close another acquisition deal here, but executives signaled Monday that they are ready for more deals.
This month the Edinburgh-based company announced that its U.S. unit, the $54 billion-asset Citizens Financial Group Inc. of Providence, R.I., had finished converting systems and changing signs “far ahead of schedule” at the retail banking network it acquired in December from Mellon Financial Corp.
At the same time, Royal Bank’s chief executive officer, Fred Goodwin, said that the swift completion of the integration “provides a strong foundation for the next phase of our strategy in the U.S.”
The next step will almost certainly include more acquisition deals like the $282 million one announced in June for Medford Bancorp Inc., the Massachusetts parent of $1.4 billion-asset Medford Savings Bank.
That transaction is expected to close by yearend, and executives have hinted that there could be more deals on the way.
“Our radar is always on the United States,” a spokeswoman for Mr. Goodwin said Monday.
Also on Monday, Royal Bank’s chairman, Sir George Mathewson, told Reuters during an appearance at a banking conference in London that the company is “seriously looking at acquisitions in the United States.”
Mr. Goodwin has said that his company is interested primarily in expanding its operations in New England and the Middle Atlantic. A spokeswoman would not discuss specific targets Monday.
Last month Lawrence K. Fish, the chairman, president, and CEO of Citizens, said that the quick integration of the Mellon operations could allow Royal Bank to speed up its acquisition plans.
The company is often mentioned when analysts and investment bankers speculate on linkups. It is seen as the most likely buyer if Allied Irish Banks PLC of Dublin decides to sell a majority stake in its scandal-ridden U.S. unit, Allfirst Financial Inc. of Baltimore.
In February, Allied Irish reported a $691 million loss at Allfirst’s currency trading desk, which it blamed on a rogue trader. The company has said that it will decide by yearend whether to sell $18 billion-asset Allfirst.
