TD Bank's First Horizon acquisition is 5th-largest US bank deal since 2007

TD Bank Group's proposed $13.54 billion acquisition of Memphis, Tenn.-based First Horizon Corp. marks one of the largest U.S. bank M&A transactions in the last 15 years.

The acquisition is the fifth-largest announced whole-company bank or thrift deal since the start of 2007, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The two banks announced the deal Feb. 28. On a pro forma basis excluding merger adjustments, TD's U.S. franchise will be a top six U.S. bank, with roughly $614 billion in assets and a network of 1,560 stores, serving more than 10.7 million U.S. customers across 22 states.

Globally, TD Bank Group will have roughly C$1.841 trillion in assets, with more than 2,600 branches serving more than 27.5 million customers. The TD Bank Group includes Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries.

Acquisition ranks fifth

The largest U.S. bank deal since 2007 was BB&T's $28.39 billion merger with SunTrust Banks Inc. in 2019, to form Truist Financial Corp. Second on the list was Bank of America Corp.'s purchase of LaSalle Bank Corp., announced in April 2007, which carried a price tag of $21.00 billion.

Bank of Montreal's $16.30 billion acquisition of Bank of the West, announced on Dec. 20, 2021, ranked third, followed by Wells Fargo & Co.'s Oct. 3, 2008, acquisition of Wachovia Corp. for $15.13 billion.

Among the five largest deals, TD Bank's acquisition of First Horizon carried the second-highest deal value relative to tangible common equity, at 227.4%.

Gradual recovery

Aggregate annual U.S. bank deal value peaked in 2007 at $71.38 billion before falling off in the global financial crisis and gradually recovering over the next decade. Annual deal value hit $55.14 billion in 2019, dropped in 2020 with the U.S. onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and recovered to a new high of $77.39 billion in 2021.