Shares of Sovereign Bancorp Inc. and Independence Community Bank Corp. headed in opposite directions Wednesday after a New York Stock Exchange decision cleared the way for a controversial deal in which Sovereign would buy Independence.
Late Tuesday, Sovereign and Banco Santander Central Hispano SA revised the terms of a deal in which Santander would buy a 19.8% stake in the Philadelphia thrift company, which would use the proceeds to acquire Independence, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
One of the changes would let Sovereign respond to potential bids for the company from third parties.
Shares of Sovereign, which has been the subject of shareholder ire since announcing the three-way deal Oct. 24, fell 2.2% Wednesday. Independence rose 4.4%.
Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida rose 2.8%. The Stuart company announced late Tuesday that it would acquire the thinly traded Big Lake Financial Corp. of Okeechobee.
Shares of First BanCorp of San Juan, Puerto Rico, rose 2.6% Wednesday. The increase was the fifth in as many trading days for the stock.
First BanCorp is one of three San Juan banking companies embroiled in an accounting scandal, along with Doral Financial Corp. and R&G Financial Corp. However, shares of First BanCorp, which issued some third-quarter operating results Monday, have risen 14% this week.
R&G rose 3.3% Wednesday, while Oriental Financial Group Inc. rose 2.9%.
Other gainers included BankAtlantic Bancorp of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which rose 3%, and New Century Financial Corp. of Irvine, Calif., which rose 2.6%.
Decliners included Bank of Granite Corp. in Granite Falls, N.C., which fell 3.2%, and Sterling Bancorp of New York, which fell 2.6%.
The American Banker index of 225 banking stocks rose 1.01%, and the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.35%.
