Naomi Snyder
Editor-in-Chief
Bank acquisitions rise in first quarter, but not by much
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Written by
Naomi Snyder
Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-Chief Naomi Snyder is in charge of the editorial coverage at Bank Director. She oversees the magazine and the editorial team’s efforts on the Bank Director website, newsletter and special projects. She has more than two decades of experience in business journalism and spent 15 years as a newspaper reporter. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan.
Top dealmakers include Sandler O’Neill & Partners, Raymond James & Associates and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
Top dealmakers by volume
Top dealmakers by number of deals
There weren’t a lot of fish to be had, but Sandler O’Neill & Partners took the bigger fish. With 34 total bank and thrift acquisitions worth just $2.3 billion in the first quarter, the firm’s investment bankers were the top dealmakers by volume in the first quarter, after handling the $1 billion Comerica Inc. acquisition of Sterling Bancshares, Inc., according to SNL Financial.
Senior Managing Director Jimmy Dunne III of Sandler O’Neill was ranked number one with two deals worth a total $1.5 billion: He handled Comerica as well as People’s United Financial’s $489 million acquisition of Danvers Bancorp., both announced in January.
He was quickly followed by John Ziegler and Liz Jacobs, both of Sandler O’Neill & Partners, who both worked on the Comerica deal as well.
Tom Mecredy of Raymond James & Associates, Inc., and Jeff Brand and Steve Kent with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., were the top bank deal makers by number of deals, with three deals each.
Deal volume improved in the first quarter compared to last year, with 34 deals done compared to 26 during the same quarter last year. But pricing remains lower than historic levels, with the average deal price to book value at 103.2 percent in the first quarter, down from 123.7 percent a year ago.
Last year, there were more than 170 bank mergers and acquisitions announced worth about $12 billion, compared to 296 in 2006 worth $109 billion, according to SNL.
WRITTEN BY
Naomi Snyder
Editor-in-Chief
Editor-in-Chief Naomi Snyder is in charge of the editorial coverage at Bank Director. She oversees the magazine and the editorial team’s efforts on the Bank Director website, newsletter and special projects. She has more than two decades of experience in business journalism and spent 15 years as a newspaper reporter. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan.