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Busy Chicago bank M&A pace could continue

  • There have been 66 bank deals over the past ten years in the Chicago area vs. 66 in NYC, and 53 in L.A. Chicago, however, remains relatively flush with community lenders in need of scale, and thus ripe for further consolidation.
  • "The feedback we are getting from the banks is that the long-running motivations for consolidation are still there," says Hovde Group's Kevin Fitzsimmons.
  • Likely buyers are those that have already been active on the M&A front, write Chris Vanderpool and Kevin Dobbs at SNL Financial; notably including First Midwest Bancorp (NASDAQ:FMBI) and Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC). On a recent earnings call, FMBI CEO Michael Scudder said there's "no barriers to the further pursuit of opportunities."
  • MB Financial (NASDAQ:MBFI) has also been an acquisitive Chicago bank and has indicated it's openness to more, but sees fewer opportunities than in the past.
  • And don't forget the chance of larger regional banks scooping up smaller regionals or large community players. Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) was a buyer of FirstMerit - which has a sizable Chicago presence. And CIBC (NYSE:CM) is still trying to close the purchase of Chicago-based PrivateBancorp (NASDAQ:PVTB).

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SymbolLast Price% Chg
FMBI--
First Midwest Bancorp, Inc.