Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB) in Maine has struck its first deal in its 125-year history, announcing late Tuesday that it is buying substantially all of the assets and deposits of Border Trust Company in Augusta.

The San Luis Obispo, Calif., bank in five years went from a start-up to the winner in a bidding war between two bank suitors. Picking a good location and keeping its nose clean paid off, CEO Mark Crawford said.

Tired of sifting through struggling banks looking for a savior, some aspiring buyers are approaching healthy banks about acquisitions.

Continuing its rapid expansion throughout the Northeast, Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB) in Pittsfield, Mass., said Tuesday that it has acquired Greenpark Mortgage Corporation of Needham, Mass.

Executive compensation has been an important topic in the investor community for over a decade. Unfortunately, shareholders have gone largely unheard and the issue has been little more than a blip on the radar of corporate America.

Eagle Bancorp (EGBN) of Bethesda, Md., could raise up to $35 million for general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions and organic growth.

Independent Bank Corp. (INDB) of Rockland, Mass., has agreed to acquire Central Bancorp (CEBK) of Somerville, Mass., for $54.8 million in cash and stock.

Like any self-conscious Chicagoan, Ed Wehmer is hoping his actions – in this case an advertising campaign at Wrigley Field – aren’t perpetuating the Chicago Cubs’ curse.

Wells Fargo has deployed a series of network and application monitoring tools to ensure website performance as it continues to assimilate Wachovia's huge network.

PacWest Bancorp (PACW) will buy American Perspective for $58 million in cash, trumping a $44 million offer that Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ) made for the San Luis Obispo, Calif., company just a month earlier.

Hampton Roads Bankshares (HMPR) of Norfolk, Va., has found new buyers for three of its Gateway Bank & Trust branches it had previously agreed to sell to ECB Bancorp (ECBE).

CrossFirst Bank in Leawood, Kan., has agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets and deposits of Mercantile Bancorp's $110 million-asset Heartland Bank.

Fulton Financial in Lancaster, Pa., is planning to open six new branches in 2012 and will renovate five others as part of a broader effort to make its branches more inviting and free up staff to better interact with customers.

First Financial in Cincinnati instituted a full pay-out of earnings in August. Although investors were happy with the move, the company has been swarmed with questions over how long it plans to keep the payout. Last week, the company committed to it until the end of 2013.

A breakdown of M&A announcements for the past two weeks

Mergers and acquisitions enjoyed a notable uptick in the first quarter. Now financial dealmakers are hotly debating whether it's a one-quarter wonder or the beginning of a much-heralded consolidation.

A plan to spin off Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's global mergers and acquisitions division into a boutique operation, in which the majority state-owned lender may hold a stake, could be finalized by the end of the year, said Simon Penney, chief executive of RBS in the Middle East and Africa.

WSFS Financial (WSFS) in Wilmington, Del., has been using its excess capital to open new branches, hire lenders and beef up its wealth management operations, but Chief Executive Mark Turner assured investors and analysts Friday that repaying the $53 million it received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program remains a priority.

First Banks of Clayton, Mo., said Friday that it has called off its plan to sell its Florida branch network to an unnamed bank after the two sides could not come to terms on a deal.

The Houston bank's four deals since September would not slow it down if it sees another good M&A opportunity, David Zalman says. Proxy filing details how it courted American State Financial.