2024 Bank M&A Deal Tracker: 33 deals worth a combined $4.92B announced in Q3

US bank M&A continued trending higher following 2023's dealmaking drought, but transaction rates remain below average.

The third quarter of 2024 saw 33 bank deal announcements with an aggregate deal value of $4.92 billion. By comparison, there were 34 bank deals worth a total $2.73 billion announced over the same period in 2023, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Altogether, there were 93 US bank deals worth an aggregate deal value of $11.42 billion announced in the year through Sept. 30, surpassing the total deal value of $8.95 billion and $4.15 billion from the 155 and 98 bank deal announcements in all of 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Midwest remains most-targeted region, followed by the Southeast

Thirty-seven banks in the Midwest have so far been targeted in 2024, making it the most targeted region.

On Sept. 30, Chicago-based Byline Bancorp Inc. announced the acquisition of Elmwood Park, Ill.-based First Security Bancorp Inc. for $39.2 million marking 2024's eighth bank target headquartered in Illinois, making it the most targeted state in the country.

Upon completion, Byline will likely have just shy of $10 billion in assets and Piper Sandler analyst Nathan Race believes Byline will not remain on the M&A sidelines. Often times, banks will try to clear the $10 billion mark by a healthy margin to help offset the increased regulatory costs and reduced debit card interchange revenue that kick in once a bank breaches that threshold.

On Sept. 16, Jacksonville, Fla.-based EverBank Financial Corp. announced the acquisition of Southfield, Mich.-based Sterling Bank and Trust FSB for $261.0 million, making it the 10th-largest US bank M&A deal announced this year and the fourth bank targeted in Michigan.

Meanwhile, on Sept. 24, Virginia-based TowneBank announced it would acquire in-state peer Village Bank and Trust Financial Corp. for $121.2 million with a deal value-to-tangible common equity ratio of 171.1%, which makes it the 19th-largest and the fourth most expensive US bank M&A deal announced this year.

Altogether, 18 banks headquartered in the Southeast were targeted in the first nine months of 2024, making it the second most targeted region.

Banks targeted in the Northeast

On Sept. 24, Rochester, NY-based ESL FCU announced it would acquire substantially all of the assets and liabilities of Seneca Falls, NY-based Generations Bank for $26.2 million. The Empire State has had six banks targeted so far this year, tying it with Kansas and Texas as the second most targeted states in the country.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania in-state peers Mifflinburg Bancorp Inc. and Northumberland Bancorp announced a merger of equals on Sept. 25, with a deal value of $34.2 million.

– Access a list of pending and completed M&A deals announced since Jan. 1, 2014. – Access the S&P Capital IQ Pro M&A summary page for US financial institutions. – Read more M&A news.

A trio of merger policies from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Justice Department Antitrust Division could potentially constrain US bank M&A activity.

The FDIC's final Statement of Policy and the OCC's final rule on bank M&A policies were finalized on the day that the US Justice Department issued a clarification that it would apply its comprehensive Merger Guidelines from December 2023 when assessing a bank merger.