KBRA Financial Intelligence

Banking M&A Remains Muted; Executives Optimistic In 2023

Banking mergers and acquisitions (M&A) remained below historical trends with seven deals announced in February—less than half the typical monthly pace for U.S. bank transactions. Deal-making has been muted so far this year due to economic uncertainty, climbing interest rates, and paper losses on banks’ bond portfolios.

February deals tracked by KFI:

The biggest takeover in February involved LINKBANCORP’s purchase of Partners Bancorp in an all-stock deal worth about $167.8 million. Billed as a merger of equals, the combined bank holding company will have about $3 billion in assets and an expected market value of $300 million.

The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter, expands LINKBANK’s footprint to Maryland and Washington, D.C., by adding 21 branches from Partners’ subsidiaries Bank of Delmarva and Virginia Partners Bank.

See how LINKBANCORP is expanding its footprint by comparing Branch Maps on the KFI Platform.

Partners had previously agreed to sell itself to OceanFirst Financial Corp. in 2021, but that deal was terminated last November.

February’s Bank Treasury Newsletter

Bank managers are becoming more optimistic in 2023 on strong borrower balance sheets and a resilient consumer. The lenders enjoyed the strongest growth in net interest income last year since the FDIC started tracking the data in 1984. Learn more.

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Follow KBRA’s weekly podcast and newsletter, 3 Things in Credit, hosted by our Chief Strategist, Van Hesser. From the February 24 episode:

"We believe tightening is slowing economic growth but getting to 2% inflation with labor markets as tight as they are will be challenging and costly."