Relationships bear more fruit for Piper Sandler, KBW in Provident-Lakeland deal

The usual suspects have landed another billion-dollar U.S. bank deal.

Piper Sandler Cos. and Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc. served as advisers on opposite sides of Provident Financial Services Inc.'s planned acquisition of Lakeland Bancorp Inc., in what marks the 15th deal of at least $1 billion that each company has been involved with in the last five years, counting deals advised by Piper Sandler's predecessor company, Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP.

By deal count, Piper Sandler and KBW are the leading advisers on bank M&A transactions with announced values larger than $1 billion since 2018. By aggregate value, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC combined with J.P. Morgan Securities PLC is the leading adviser on such deals, followed by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC combined with Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE.

Piper Sandler and KBW have plenty of experience with Provident and Lakeland. Their combination, valued at $1.28 billion, is the ninth deal in the past decade involving either company in which KBW, Piper Sandler or Sandler O'Neill served as an adviser.

Familiar faces

Piper Sandler previously advised Provident on its acquisition of SB One Bancorp in 2020 and its acquisition of MDE Group Inc./Acertus Capital Management LLC in 2015. It advised Lakeland on the bank's acquisition of Highlands Bancorp Inc. in 2018 and its acquisition of Harmony Bank in 2016.

Piper Sandler's William Hickey, one of the advisers on the Provident-Lakeland deal, was involved in all four of those transactions. Jonathan Doyle, Matthew Murray, John Plantemoli and John Phillips Jr. were also part of the Piper Sandler advisory team on the Provident-Lakeland deal.

KBW previously worked with Lakeland on an acquisition of 1st Constitution Bancorp in 2021 and an acquisition of Pascack Bancorp Inc. in 2015. The company advised Provident on an acquisition of Tirschwell & Loewy Inc in 2019, as well as the 2014 acquisition of a wealth management business that was a subsidiary of Suffolk Bancorp.

Joseph Moeller, one of KBW advisers on the Provident-Lakeland deal, worked on three of those transactions. KBW's Graham Hixon and Sean Burke were also heavily involved in the Provident-Lakeland deal.

Big banking deals slow in 2022

The Lakeland-Provident deal is just the second billion-dollar U.S. bank deal announced thus far in 2022, a far cry from the 13 such deals announced last year. It is also the first billion-dollar banking deal either Piper Sandler or KBW has worked on this year.

Piper Sandler advised on six deals with values of at least $1 billion in 2021 and three in 2020. Predecessor Sandler O'Neill advised on one such deal in 2019 and four in 2018. KBW advised on seven such deals in 2021, three in 2020, three in 2019 and one in 2018.