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March 2, 2022

M&T CEO: Merged banks can navigate, help revitalize slow-growing Northeast

HBJ Photo | Joe Cooper People's United Bank at 1 Financial Plaza in downtown Hartford.
By Zachary Vasile

A combined M&T Bank and People’s United Bank can be a force for revitalization in the notoriously slow-growing Northeast, M&T’s chief executive told shareholders in a letter released Tuesday.

René Jones, CEO of M&T, which is in the process of acquiring Bridgeport-based People’s United, acknowledged that the markets both banks have traditionally served are not, on the whole, expanding as quickly as other parts of the country, but said they remain vital and navigable.

“Ours may not be the markets that garner attention for their high growth and new migrants from other U.S. regions — but, nonetheless, they comprise 22 percent of the U.S. population and an even greater share (25 percent) of GDP,” Jones wrote. “It’s important to acknowledge, as well, that both companies have successfully served a region of the United States that has lost relative share of population and shown slower economic growth. That commonality — and challenge — makes it even more important that both our mission and methods share an approach to succeeding in slower-growing markets.”

Still, Jones said, when finally brought together, M&T and People’s United will have the expertise to start changing those trends, at least in certain areas that have long lacked necessary investments.

“We both understand that the Northeast remains a vital region, marked not only by places that have lagged but also by areas of exceptional affluence, from Fairfield County, Connecticut, to Bethesda and Boston,” he said. “Nor do we accept the idea that the traits of slow growth, population loss and high-poverty cities and rural areas cannot be ameliorated or reversed — in part through banking that combines prudence with economic imagination.”

He offered the example of M&T’s hometown, Buffalo, where M&T has backed projects such as 43North, a private-public investment vehicle that has helped launch dozens of new small businesses.

Jones’ letter also reiterated M&T’s commitment to preserving People’s United’s Bridgeport headquarters as a regional office, a practice the CEO said M&T has kept to in past acquisitions.

M&T and People’s United initially expected to finalize their $7.6 billion deal by the end of last year, but the board of governors of the Federal Reserve has yet to sign off on the arrangement, possibly a sign of closer regulatory scrutiny under the Biden administration.

Last month, the two banks extended their “window” for anticipated federal approval to June 1, but emphasized the Federal Reserve’s ruling could come before that date.

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