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Some banks have money to spend on deals. But many buyers are busy digesting past deals or wary about tight margins and the economy, executives said in fourth-quarter earnings calls.

Related Links: 4Q Earnings Scorecard

Six Blueprints for Bank M&A in 2013

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Feeling Pressure to Buy

"We hear loud and clear from people all over, analysts from all over the place, that the big focus is on capital deployment. We get it."

- Ray Davis, CEO of Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ)

Related Link: Umpqua Brings Private Bank to Seattle and San Francisco
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Baby Steps

"We're not spending any time worrying about big deals. We don't think big deals will happen. We'll be looking at a few little deals, but they are not going to be dramatic."

- Kelly King, chairman and CEO of BB&T (BBT)

Related Link: BB&T's Earnings Rise on Mortgage Income, Increased Lending

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Interested, But Cautious

"The competition for [failed-bank] deals will pick up, so we will play the game but we will be prudent."

- Ed Wehmer, president and CEO of Wintrust Financial (WTFC)

Related Link:Related link: Wintrust to Buy First Lansing in Illinois for $39M
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I Bought Another Bank Soon After ...

"It had been nine years since we had done our last live-bank transaction. ... [The recent purchase of Genala Banc] was a small, simple transaction that would be a good one to develop your model and work out any kinks."

- George Gleason, CEO of Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK)

Related Link:Related link: Bank of the Ozarks to Buy a N.C. Bank
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Standing Pat

"We are really more focused on just growing our customers in the markets that we are already in. ... We are not spending a lot of time looking around in the M&A space."

- James Rohr, CEO of PNC Financial Services Group (PNC)

Related Link: Regional Banks Have No Time to Celebrate as Risks Loom

(Image: Bloomberg News)
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Are You a Buyer?

"We want to look at the opportunities that would increase our market share position in places we currently are at but would like more market share. ... Those opportunities exist in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey."

- Phil Wenger, Chairman and CEO of Fulton Financial Corp (FULT)

Related Link: Fulton's New CEO Wants to Focus on Growth Initiatives
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Limbering Up ... Slowly

"Everybody is starting to enter the ring, but we are still a little apart from touching gloves and fighting. …. The bid-ask is still wider than we would like."

- Chris Myers, president and CEO of CVB Financial (CVBF)

Related Link: CVB Financial Founder Steps Down from Board
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Threshold for Expansion

"I won't say that there wouldn't be a strategic opportunity [in Texas or elsewhere], but ... we would look at most [deals] as can you acquire it and put it in play at the same return as you could build it out over a period of time."

- Ralph W. Babb Jr., chairman and CEO of Comerica (CMA)

Related Link: Comerica Beats Estimates on Lower Costs and Fee Growth
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