OceanFirst Financial, Provident Financial, Eastern Bankshares open to M&A

S&P Global Market Intelligence presents a periodic summary of potential deal activity in the financial sector, including rumored transactions. This summary is based on information obtained on a best-efforts basis and may not be inclusive of all potential deal activity.

Banks

* Toms River, N.J.-based OceanFirst Financial Corp. would be open to an acquisition immediately if it found the right partner. Now that the bank feels more comfortable with its potential credit risk and many other banks also have clearer visibility on their balance sheets, M&A is back on the table, Chairman and CEO Christopher Maher said during the bank's fourth-quarter 2020 earnings call.

* Coming off a merger that happened entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jersey City, N.J.-based Provident Financial Services Inc. executives say the bank is open to more M&A opportunities, whether they be fee-based businesses that add onto the bank's offerings or the acquisition of another bank.

* Boston-based Eastern Bankshares Inc. will likely use the capital gained through its initial public offering to purchase companies, management said on the bank's fourth-quarter 2020 earnings call.

* Houston-based Prosperity Bancshares Inc. is mainly focused on sealing deals in its current markets of Texas and Oklahoma, but it is also interested in entering other markets if it finds an attractive target of sufficient size with a leading market share.

* New York Community Bancorp Inc.'s new CEO may diversify the bank's business model during his tenure, possibly via M&A.

* Tupelo, Miss.-based BancorpSouth Bank has two whole-bank deals pending but is interested in more M&A as community banks look to sell due to the difficult operating environment.

* Pine Bluff, Ark.-based Simmons First National Corp.'s executives are in "active conversations" with other banks about merger opportunities, with any merger likely to focus on expansion within its current markets.

* Evansville, Ind.-based Old National Bancorp anticipates opportunities for acquisitions in 2021, of both banks and new talent, management said on the bank's fourth-quarter 2020 earnings call.

* Chairman, President and CEO Curtis Farmer said Dallas-based Comerica Inc. is interested in bank deal opportunities in Texas and California or nonbank deals.

* Wells Fargo & Co. is having exclusive discussions for the potential sale of its asset management business to a private equity consortium led by GTCR LLC and Reverence Capital Partners LLC, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

* The day after SVB Financial Group announced its acquisition of Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc., First Foundation Inc.'s CEO Scott Kavanaugh claimed that he had been "persistently" calling Boston Private CEO Anthony DeChellis to discuss a potential tie-up.

Financial services

* Mobile banking and investment platform Moneylion Inc. is in talks with blank-check company Fusion Acquisition Corp. to merge and go public, Bloomberg News reported Jan. 28. Fusion has been negotiating with potential investors to raise about $200 million or higher.

* CoreLogic Inc. is now evaluating offers from CoStar Group Inc. and a Warburg Pincus LLC-led group and will decide in the following weeks if it will pursue a sale process, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

* Plaid Inc. remains a valuable M&A target for financial technology firms or even tech giants flirting with banking services, analysts said following the news that Visa Inc. was dropping its pursuit of the company amid a federal antitrust suit.

Insurance

* Liberty Mutual Holding Co. Inc. is seeking acquirers for its two legacy portfolios covering about $1 billion of liabilities, Insurance Insider reported, citing sources. The portfolios include a $650 million U.S. construction defects book and a U.K. motor book of about $300 million for 2018 and prior years.

* Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. expects to have up to $2.5 billion of capacity for M&A in 2021 due to a significant untapped capacity on its revolving credit facility and "really strong cash flows" in the year ahead, CEO Patrick Gallagher Jr. said during a conference call to discuss the company's full-year earnings.

* Till Capital Corp. has executed a letter of interest with a potential acquirer for its Omega Insurance Holdings Inc. subsidiary. Omega Insurance's book value was $8.2 million as of Sept. 30, 2020.

* Brown & Brown Inc. will continue eyeing firms that fit its M&A criteria after making notable deals outside the U.S. in 2020, President and CEO J. Powell Brown said in prepared remarks for a fourth-quarter earnings call.

* Genworth Financial Inc. is considering a range of strategic possibilities as it braces for the potential collapse of its long-planned takeover by China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co. Ltd. The insurance company announced Jan. 4 that it was not extending the transaction's deadline beyond Dec. 31, 2020.

* Sun Life Financial Inc. said it does not endorse or recommend Obatan's unsolicited mini-tender offer to purchase up to 50,000 common shares of the company at $35 apiece. The company warned that the offer price is 19.90% and 19.84% below the closing prices of its common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange, respectively, as of Dec. 18, 2020, which was the last trading day before the offer commenced.

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