After a quiet winter, bank M&A picked up in Pennsylvania, with a flurry of deals announced over the last two months.
Three bank deals with a Pennsylvania bank target have been announced this year, compared to four in all of 2021 and two in 2020, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
This article is part of S&P Global Market Intelligence's series of state profiles, which take an in-depth look at M&A and key banking metrics for banks and thrifts with less than $10 billion in assets.
Most recent deals
On April 13, Fort Lee, N.J.-based Nmb Financial Corp. announced it would acquire Elkins Park, Pa.-based Noah Bank for $29.4 million. Noah Bank had previously agreed to a $10 million common stock investment that would give control of the company to a group of private investors but said it is open to Nmb's unsolicited offer.
In a press release announcing the merger, Nmb said its offer is superior to the investor group because it is paying cash equal to Noah Bank's tangible common equity, minus transaction expenses over $2 million, while the investor group is offering below book value for shares.
Both Nmb unit New Millennium Bank and Noah Bank are Asian American minority depository institutions.
On March 24, Canfield, Ohio-based Farmers National Banc Corp. announced it would acquire Emlenton, Pa.-based Emclaire Financial Corp for $104.8 million, marking its first whole-bank transaction outside Ohio. Farmers National has announced three whole-bank deals since 2019.
Earlier in March, Lancaster, Pa.-based Fulton Financial Corp. announced Pennsylvania's largest bank deal so far this year, a $138.3 million acquisition of Philadelphia-based Prudential Bancorp Inc. This was Fulton's first whole-bank M&A announcement since acquiring Columbia, Md.-based Columbia Bancorp in 2006.
Fulton said multiple times last year that it was in the market for bank M&A and would consider an institution with up to $9 billion in assets. During the company's first-quarter earnings call, Chairman and CEO E. Philip Wenger said the bank intends "to once again be an acquirer of banks that fit our strategy, our geography and our culture," according to a transcript.
Potential takeover at Republic First
If a group of investors gets its way, Philadelphia-based Republic First Bancorp Inc., holding company of Republic First Bank and Pennsylvania's fourth-largest bank under $10 billion in assets, could be under new ownership soon. Two different groups are pushing for changes at the company, including new directors and a new CEO.
In mid-March, an investor group that includes George Norcross III and Greg Braca submitted a proposal to purchase $50 million in new nonvoting preferred shares and engage in a second-stage transaction with Republic First that would push its total ownership stake to up to 51%.
At the end of April, Republic First was trading at the fourth-lowest multiple to adjusted tangible book value among all major exchange-traded U.S. banks with at least $3 billion in assets.
Branch activity
In March, Pennsylvania saw a large number of branch closures due to M&A. Harrisburg, Pa.-based Mid Penn Bancorp Inc. and Wilmington, Del.-based WSFS Financial Corp. accounted for all but three of the state's 41 branch closures.
Twenty of WSFS' 22 branch closures in March were previously owned by Bryn Mawr, Pa.-based Bryn Mawr Bank Corp., which WSFS acquired Jan. 1. Eleven of Mid Penn's 16 closures were previously owned by Harrisburg, Pa.-based Riverview Financial Corp., which it acquired Nov. 30, 2021.
