M&T Bank Closing In On $7 Billion Acquisition Of People’s United

M&T Bank Corp is closing in on an acquisition deal to buy People’s United Financial for more than $7 billion, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Monday (Feb. 22), citing sources.

The all-stock agreement could be announced this week, the sources said, per WSJ. Together the new entity could have over $200 billion in assets between People’s United’s $6.6 billion value and M&T Bank’s over $19 billion value and near $142.6 billion in assets.

The combined entity will have an expanded network of branches focused in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. Headquartered in Buffalo, New York, the deal would give M&T inroads into the Boston market and strengthen its New York and New Jersey presence. People’s United is headquartered in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

This is M&T’s first major takeover since its acquisition of Hudson City Bancorp Inc. in 2015, which was held up for three years due to issues with M&T’s anti-money-laundering and consumer-compliance programs.

M&T is one of the biggest regional lenders in the Northeast, with some 40 percent of its portfolio in commercial real estate. People’s United operates about 450 branches, but it is not renewing contracts it has in the Stop & Shop grocery franchise.

Consolidation among regional lenders has been the rule more than the exception in recent years. Huntington Bancshares is merging with TCF Financial Corp, FirstCitizens BancShares is acquiring CIT Group, and PNC Financial Services Group is acquiring the U.S. division of Spain’s BBVA.

In the payments landscape, global consolidation is also the new normal. Regional saturation and technological advances make the landscape fertile for mergers and acquisitions,  Pollinate Founder and CEO Alastair Lukies CBE told Karen Webster.

Italian payments processor Nexi Spa is planning an acquisition of Nets A/S, creating Europe’s biggest payments firm by volume. FIS and Worldpay combined in mid-2019, Fiserv and First Data combined shortly thereafter and Worldline SA purchased Ingenico earlier this year.