M&T acquisition of People's United OK'd by Fed
Signage outside a M&T Bank Corp. branch in White Plains, N.Y. Credit: Bloomberg/Tiffany Hagler-Geard
M&T Bank Corp.'s $7.6 billion all-stock acquisition of People's United Financial Inc. has been cleared by regulators, the companies announced.
The deal combining two banks with branch systems on Long Island is expected to close on April 1, more than a year after the deal was announced in February 2021.
Buffalo-based M&T won approval of the Federal Reserve for the acquisition on Friday after previously being cleared by state officials in New York and Connecticut, the company said.
As M&T was awaiting the Fed's clearance, in October it announced a five-year, $43 billion plan to provide loans and other backing for low- and moderate-income communities.
In January, a similar, $28 billion program was announced by Hicksville-based New York Community Bancorp in an effort to pave the way for approval of its $2.6 billion acquisition of Michigan thrift Flagstar Bancorp. That acquisition is still pending.
M&T, with offices in New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, has 14 branches on Long Island, a spokeswoman said.
People's United, with retail locations in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, has 38 Long Island branches.
The Long Island branch count of People's United has dwindled from 67 in February 2021 as it unwinds a partnership under which it operated branches in Stop & Shop supermarkets.
The Bridgeport, Connecticut, headquarters of People's United will be the New England regional headquarters of the combined company. People's United shareholders will own about 28% of the combined company.
Customers of M&T and People's United will continue to use separate websites, mobile apps and financial advisers until the integration of the banks' systems, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter,
Following that integration, People's United products will be rebranded with the M&T Bank name.
The combined company will have assets totaling about $200 billion, roughly 1,100 branches and more than 2,000 ATMs.
Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.
