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.
Banking
* Fintech company Moven has received a $23 million infusion and plans to buy a bank. It will split itself, according to American Banker, and the banking half will be called MovenBank. Founder Brett King told the publication the company is already in discussions with regulators.
* Union Bankshares Corp. crossed the $10 billion asset threshold with the purchase of Xenith Bankshares Inc., and the Richmond, Va.-based company is staying acquisitive.
Executives said the priority is on organic growth, but additional M&A "is likely." Their plans involve the addition of registered investment advisers, albeit not from "large, chunky deals." Merion Capital Group analyst Joe Gladue, meanwhile, thinks it will go after in-state, whole-bank deals, expand into adjacent markets or add to its fee-generating businesses.
* Veritex Holdings Inc., which has roughly doubled in size since buying Sovereign Bancshares Inc. and Liberty Bancshares Inc., is also expected to stay hungry. The Dallas-based company estimates there are three or four possible merger targets in Houston alone and that it already has the team in place to grow another $1 billion to $2 billion in assets. It is interested in buying banks with $400 million to $2 billion in assets, Keefe Bruyette & Woods' Brady Gailey noted.
* First Mid-Illinois Bancshares Inc. is "on the M&A hunt," according to D.A. Davidson's Kevin Reevey. It is eyeing targets with $400 million to $1 billion in assets, have low-cost deposit franchises or that are in markets that could drive loan growth.
* Baton Rouge, La.-based Investar Bank plans to enter new markets and has enlisted a new hire to help with related M&A opportunities. That hire is Jeffery Blum, who leads the new department of commercial and industrial banking.
Also to read: Mutual conversions celebrate their 3-year anniversaries; Multiple parties pitch proposals to buy bank subject to 363 sale; Univest looking for $1B merger targets; Green Bancorp on M&A hunt, preferably in Dallas; Columbia Banking System looks to fill in markets with M&A; Flagstar's earnings no longer beholden to mortgage market; and United Community sees NIM moving high on equipment finance acquisition
Financial services
* Following the termination of a merger agreement between MoneyGram International Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. affiliate Ant Financial, Euronet Worldwide Inc. continues to believe that a combination with MoneyGram has "compelling commercial logic."
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Barclays Plc and Société Générale SA are interested in acquiring Germany-based Commerzbank AG's equities, markets and commodities division, Handelsblatt Global reported.
* Ladder Capital Corp's board declined an unsolicited nonbinding proposal letter from Related Fund Management LLC, which offered to acquire the company's outstanding shares for $15 per share, after determining that the offer undervalued the company.
* Activist investor Christopher Hohn believes CME Group Inc. or Intercontinental Exchange Inc. will probably bid to acquire all or part of the London Stock Exchange Group Plc, Sky News reported.
Also to read: Lower taxes, same capital management strategy for Raymond James; and Safeguard Scientifics changing business strategy to boost shareholder value
Insurance
* Patriot National Inc. engaged in a "protracted" sale process managed by two investment banking firms before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Duff & Phelps Managing Director James Feltman, Patriot's chief restructuring officer, stated in a bankruptcy court declaration. The disclosure statement said the company had reached out to more than 130 potentially interested purchasers, signed nearly 50 confidentiality agreements, had extensive due diligence conducted by approximately nine interested purchasers and ultimately received three letters of intent.
* MetLife Inc. is looking to sell its Hong Kong insurance unit in a deal that could raise more than $600 million, Bloomberg News reported.
* The special committee of AmTrust Financial Services Inc.'s board retained Deutsche Bank Securities as its financial adviser to review an unsolicited proposal by Stone Point Capital LLC, AmTrust CEO Barry Zyskind, and George Karfunkel and Leah Karfunkel, to take the insurer private for $12.25 per share.
* And American International Group Inc. was in discussions to acquire Voya Financial Inc. in a potential deal valued at more than $10 billion before negotiations fell apart in November 2017 when the companies were unable to reach an agreement on price, Bloomberg News reported. The company on Jan. 22 said it reached an agreement to acquire Validus Holdings Ltd. for $5.56 billion.
Also to read: Report: Liberty Mutual eyes sale of $1B in private equity, real estate holdings; Unico American closes review of strategic alternatives; Aviva boss looking for bolt-on acquisition deals; Report: JenCap Holdings agrees to buy Georgia-based managing general agent; Report: ERGO International, Manulife Financial mull stake in IndiaFirst Life; and Report: AIG eyes CBA's general insurance operations
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