Need Loan Growth? Buy a Bank
August 28, 2012 8:38 AM
(Image: Shutterstock )
First Community
Loan Growth: 30%Total Loans: $1.8BIts story: First Community Bancshares (FCBC) in Bluefield, Va., raised $19 million for deals last year, bulked up in Richmond by buying Peoples Bank in May and bought the failed Waccamaw Bank in Whiteville, N.C., in June . (Image: Thinkstock)
ViewPoint
Loan Growth: 27%Total Loans: $2.5 billionIts story: ViewPoint Financial Group (VPFG) in Plano, Texas, bought Highlands Bancshares for $71 million in April, acquired CEO Kevin Hanigan in the deal and has agreed to sell its mortgage subsidiary -- all part of its conversion to a commercial bank from a thrift.
Capital One
Loan Growth: 17%Total Loans: $204 billionIts story: Capital One Financial (COF) Chief Executive Richard Fairbank pulled off two of the biggest deals of recent years in buying ING Direct USA in February and HSBC's cards business in May, though he took heat from community activists and small bankers.
First Financial Holdings
Loan Growth: 12%Total Loans: $2.7 billionIts story: First Financial Holdings (FFCH) in Charleston, S.C., in April acquired the failed Plantation Federal Bank in Pawleys Island, S.C., and five branches in Hilton Head, S.C., from Liberty Savings Bank . The purchases added nearly $300 million of loans. (Image: Shutterstock )
First Niagara Financial Group
Loan Growth: 12%Total Loans: $19 billionIts story: First Niagara Financial Group's (FNFG) $1 billion branch deal with HSBC had to be restructured , involved divestitures mandated by the Justice Department and hurt Chief Executive John Koelmel's standing on Wall Street, but the Buffalo, N.Y., company in May gained 131 branches in upstate New York and Connecticut . (Image: Bloomberg News)
EverBank
Loan growth: 11%Total loans: $11 billionIts story: EverBank Financial (EVER) Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Clements has been on a roller-coaster ride this year. The Jacksonville, Fla., bank bought the warehouse mortgage unit of MetLife in April, held an initial public offering that fell short of expectations and announced last month a $2.5 billion deal for GE Capital's business lending arm .
Berkshire Hills Bancorp
Loan growth: 11%Total loans: $3.4 billionIts story: Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB) in Pittsfield, Mass., this spring bought Connecticut Bank and Trust in Hartford for $30 million and Greenpark Mortgage in Needham, Mass . It announced a $132 million deal in June for Beacon Federal Bancorp (BFED) of East Syracuse, N.Y. (Image: Shutterstock )
Meridian Interstate
Loan growth: 10%Total Loans: $1.6 billionIts story: Meridian Interstate (EBSB) in Boston, the parent of East Boston Savings Bank, is the exception to the rule - it sold its 43% interest in Hampshire First Bank to NBT Bancorp and says it benefited from a year-old effort to make more real estate and business loans and increase core funding . (Image: Shutterstock )
SVB Financial
Loan growth: 9%Total Loans: $7.8 billionIts story: SVB Financial (SIVB) did not buy a bank, but the Santa Clara company led by Greg Becker benefited from different kinds of deals: software buyouts and capital calls from venture capital and private-equity clients. It opened a London branch in June as part of a plan to do more business in Europe .
NBT
Loan growth: 9%Total Loans: $4.2 billionIts story: NBT Bancorp (NBT) added $217 million in loans from its acquisition of Hampshire First Bank in June. The Norwich, N.Y., bank also reported "strong" commercial and consumer loan increases in upstate New York and Vermont. (Image: Shutterstock )
