A sizable group of community banks are in various stages of consolidation, highlighting how the industry-wide merger and acquisition (M&A) trend is extending down market, as community and regional banks pursue greater scale and cost efficiencies.
M&A fever has already gripped the nation’s super-regionals and top banks. BB&T announced in February that it was acquiring SunTrust for $66 billion to form Truist, marking the largest bank merger since the 2008 financial crisis. Meanwhile, major banks like JPMorgan Chase are also looking to make more acquisitions, CEO Jamie Dimon noted.
But it’s not only larger banks tying up, as evidenced by several recently announced or rumored local bank mergers.