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Updated: November 1, 2019

As $759M People’s-United Bank deal closes, rumblings of reduced Hartford footprint

HBJ Photo | Joe Cooper Buffalo’s M&T Bank announced it would buy Bridgeport-based People’s United Bank.

People’s United Financial, parent of People’s United Bank, on Friday closed its $759 million acquisition of Hartford-based United Financial Bancorp.

The deal follows People’s United Bank’s late 2018 purchase of Farmington Bank, cementing the Bridgeport-based lender’s position as a major player in Greater Hartford’s banking landscape. 

It also marks a major milestone for the bank. This year, People’s United surpassed Webster Financial Corp., for the most Connecticut deposits by an in-state lender.

As of June 30, People’s United  had $21.2 billion in Connecticut deposits vs. Webster’s $19.3 billion. 

Only Charlotte-based Bank of America has more deposits in the state ($32.1 billion).

With the United Bank deal closed, all eyes are now on how People’s will manage the consolidation in terms of overlapping personnel, branches and other real estate. Branch closures are expected, but exactly which locations stay and go is not yet known publicly.

Announcements are expected in the coming weeks.

However, according to sources familiar with the situation, People’s United plans to consolidate some of the combined company’s downtown Hartford operations. In particular, People’s United Bank plans to cede the majority of its 31,000 square feet in the Gold Building, at One Financial Plaza, vacating second-floor space (or about 23,000 square feet) while possibly maintaining its ground-floor branch , sources said.

People’s would then consolidate its Hartford employees in space currently occupied by United Bank in Goodwin Square, at 225 Asylum St. United Bank moved its corporate headquarters and about 200 or so employees there in 2017, leasing 68,000 square feet in five floors.

Photo | HBJ File
A former officer of a predecessor to United Bank is leading New Valley Bank.

However, People’s United may reduce its Goodwin Square footprint from five to three floors, said sources, who warned plans have not been completely finalized and could change.
It’s not clear what might happen to United Bank’s CityPlace branch at 185 Asylum St. 

People’s United, which now has $52 billion in assets, declined to confirm any specific details Thursday afternoon.

“We have made no final decisions yet, but I can tell you that we will maintain a downtown Hartford presence now, and in the future,” said CEO Jack Barnes.

Barnes said People’s has carefully evaluated the combined branch network “to understand how we can best serve our collective customers’ needs going forward.”

Final branch decisions are still pending, but the bank intends to eliminate overlapping outposts while maintaining branch access for customers, he added.

People’s United confirmed earlier this year that it would close some branches, estimating annual pre-tax savings of $88 million.

The company said 61 percent of United Bank’s branches are within two miles of a People’s United branch, and that 88 percent are within five miles.

A Hartford Business Journal examination of federal bank-branch data shows that People’s United and United Bank have overlapping branch locations in 17 Connecticut municipalities. And within those cities and towns, they have a combined 51 branches, which means consolidation is likely in those communities.

In some cases, People’s United Bank and United Bank share branches on the same street.

People’s United has branches across multiple Northeast states, including 157 in Connecticut alone.

"The acquisition allows us to further optimize our existing branch footprint regionally to more efficiently serve our combined customers, and deliver our tailored solutions to additional markets, backed by our expert bankers and personalized technology," Barnes said in announcing the deal closing Friday morning.

Branch consolidation is common in banking mergers where there’s shared geographic presence.

After its $544 merger-buyout of Farmington Bank’s parent, People’s United last year announced plans to shutter at least 15 suburban Hartford branches.

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