Provident New York Bancorp wants to join forces with a similarly sized bank, KBW analyst Collyn Gilbert says. But a pool crowded with rival buyers is crimping its plans.

The troubled Metropolitan Bank Group in Chicago may be getting a lifeline from a consortium of Mexican investors, Crain's Chicago Business reported.

M&T Bank (MTB) will take over the lease at a Buffalo-area mortgage facility that Bank of America (BAC) plans to close this spring, according to a report.

Yadkin Valley Financial (YAVY) in Elkin, N.C., is seeking shareholder approval for a three-to-one reverse stock split.

Most of the $45 million value of 1st United Bancorp's deal for Enterprise Bancorp is a gamble by Enterprise shareholders that they can keep and collect on Enterprise's problem assets. It's a clever way to avoid a common dealbreaker.

A breakdown of M&A announcements in the financial services industry for the week ended March 23.

The Federal Reserve Board has approved FirstMerit's pending acquisition of Citizens Republic Bancorp (CRBC) in Flint, Mich.

Quicken Loans Inc., based in Detroit, has purchased approximately $34 billion in mortgage servicing rights from Ally Bank.

Puget Sound Bank in Bellevue, Wash., is buying Core Business Bank for roughly $8.4 million in cash and stock.

Patrick Fahey's last act as a turnaround specialist ended with the 2010 failure of Frontier Bank. First Sound Bank in Seattle is poised for a much different outcome.

United Community Financial (UCFC) in Youngstown, Ohio, has raised $39.9 million in a private offering.

The Boca Raton, Fla. company announced Friday it has agreed to by Enterprise Bancorp in North Palm Beach, Fla.

First Bancshares (FBMS) in Hattiesburg, Miss., has raised $20 million to finance its purchase of a bankrupt Gulf Coast lender.

CorTrust Bank in Mitchell, S.D., has acquired a one-branch bank in Blaine, Minn.

Changes in regulation, the economy and technology have brought the retail banking industry to multiple crossroads. Some of the country's most senior bank executives gathered this month to ask each other for directions.

Temenos, the Geneva-based core banking software maker, is buying TriNovus, an Alabama-based developer of software-as-a-service for community banks.

Investor Umberto Fedeli began pushing for changes at PVF Capital as early as 2007. After joining the board, helping the company turn itself around and eventually sell itself, he reflects on what it took to survive.

Making bank buyouts work has long been a risky business. As the sudden ouster of First Niagara (FNFG) CEO John Koelmel shows, it may have gotten riskier still. Behind the perils are the complications of conducting due diligence, evaluating troubled assets, navigating regulations and pleasing dilution-averse shareholders.

Peyton Patterson. Cathy Nash. Al de Molina. These and other names surfaced as possible successors to John Koelmel, who was ousted this week as CEO of First Niagara in Buffalo, N.Y.

Ally Bank said Thursday that it plans to sell a portfolio of mortgage-servicing rights to Quicken Loans for approximately $280 million. The loans have an unpaid principal balance of $34 billion as of Jan. 31 and are expected to be refinanced after the sale.