On January 30, Charleston, West Virginia-based United Bankshares Inc. (UBSI) announced that it had agreed to acquire Arlington, Virginia-based Virginia Commerce Bancorp Inc. (VCBI) for approximately $491 million in stock. The announced $14 per share deal price gives VCBI shareholders a 15% premium over the January 29 closing share price, and it equates to a 1.82x multiple of VCBI's year-end 2012 tangible book value per share (TBV-PS).
Whose shareholders should be happy? Did UBSI buy cheap? Did VCBI sell at or above its intrinsic value?
First, some background on UBSI. UBSI is acquisitive. It has completed 15 acquisitions, most of them small, comprising over $1 billion in aggregate transaction value since 1990. The more recent...