Some of America’s largest bank mergers and acquisitions

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Banks are consolidating all the time, and mergers are how some of the largest banks in America became so large. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission defines a merger as what happens when two or more companies join into a single entity.
Let’s look at some of the largest bank mergers and acquisitions, including some recent ones, and explore how mergers like these could affect you as a bank customer.
Some of the largest bank mergers and acquisitions over the years
Date | Acquiring bank | Acquired bank | Purchase price |
---|---|---|---|
Jan. 1, 2009 | Bank of America | Merrill Lynch | $50 billion |
Oct. 27, 2003 | Bank of America | Fleet | $47 billion |
July 2, 2007 | Bank of New York | Mellon Financial Corp. | $18.4 billion |
Oct. 3, 2008 | Wells Fargo | Wachovia Corp. | $15.1 billion |
June 23, 2017 | CIBC | PrivateBancorp | $5 billion |
July 29, 2016 | KeyCorp | First Niagara | $4.1 billion |
Some recent bank mergers and acquisitions
Date | Acquiring bank | Acquired bank | Purchase price |
---|---|---|---|
Feb. 1, 2023 | BMO Harris | Bank of the West | $16.3 billion |
April 2, 2022 | M&T Bank | People’s United | $8.3 billion |
Jan. 4, 2022 | First Citizens | CIT Bank | $2.2 billion |
June 9, 2021 | Huntington | TCF | $6 billion |
June 1, 2021 | PNC | BBVA | $11.6 billion |
Here’s a notable merger of equals
Date | Banks involved | Purchase price |
---|---|---|
Dec. 9, 2019 | BB&T and SunTrust | $66 billion |
Bank failures can lead to bank acquisitions
In 2023, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic all failed. And all three have new owners. Silicon Valley Bank depositors are now with First Citizens, Signature Bank customers are now with Flagstar Bank, a subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp, and First Republic customers now bank with Chase.
When it acquired “the substantial majority of assets and assumed the deposits and other liabilities of First Republic,” Chase received around $92 billion worth of deposits, according to a Chase press release.
How bank mergers and acquisitions affect you
Your bank could merge with a bank, acquire another bank or be acquired by another bank. Sometimes the largest banks become even larger through these deals. Or a bank failure could cause consolidation.
These deals can affect consumers, who might need to change the way they bank. Changes could include:
- Branch closures
- New checks
- New account numbers
- New routing numbers
- New products
Bottom line
The number of FDIC-insured banks has decreased nearly 27 percent from March 31, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2022, so there are fewer banks each year. And that trend is likely to continue.
Banking tends to be a long-term relationship, with a 2021 Bankrate survey finding that U.S. adults have used their primary checking account for more than 17 years and the same savings account for nearly as long. So it’s entirely possible that you’ll experience a banking merger or consolidation at some point, even if you never make a move to switch banks.
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