People’s United Bank to buy United Bank for $759M

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

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People's United Bank isn’t slowing its buying spree, announcing late Monday a plan to acquire Hartford’s United Financial Bancorp Inc. for $759 million.

People's United Bank, a subsidiary of People's United Financial Inc., has been steadily buying banks in the Northeast in recent years. Its most recent deal in Connecticut was the $544 million acquisition last year of Farmington Bank, which led to local layoffs and branch closures.

In April, it closed on a $327 million stock purchase of tiny Boston lender Belmont Savings Bank.

United Financial Bancorp, with $7.3 billion in assets is the parent of United Bank, formerly Rockville Bank, which has also grown in recent years from a largely community lender to more of a regional player with 60 branches in central Connecticut and western Massachusetts.

In 2017, it moved its corporate headquarters to downtown Hartford's Goodwin Square office tower from Glastonbury. People's United Bank also has a sizable downtown Hartford presence in the Gold Building.

People’s United has more than $48 billion in assets and 400 retail locations in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as wealth management and insurance divisions.

Under the terms of the People’s-United deal, which has been approved by both companies' boards of directors, United Financial Bancorp shareholders will receive 0.875 shares of People’s United Financial stock for each United Financial share.

The deal still requires regulatory approvals. People's United 's share price was down 1.3 percent, trading at 16.39 cents per share, at Tuesday's market open.

“We are excited to welcome United Bank to People’s United,” said Jack Barnes, chairman and CEO, People’s United Financial. “With the fourth largest deposit market share in the combined Hartford and Springfield market, a complementary array of commercial and retail capabilities and a shared legacy of community giving, United will solidify our presence in the Central Connecticut market and strengthen our franchise in Western Massachusetts.”

The deal is the latest in a string of Connecticut bank mergers in recent years. In addition to the People's-Farmington Bank deal, Liberty Bank is in the process of buying Simsbury Bank for $71 million.