Major U.S. bank mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions are a driving force in the world of finance. Banks, for example, are consolidating all the time, and mergers are how some of the largest banks in America have grown so large.

The U.S. Securities and Exmodify Commission (SEC) defines a merger as what happens when two or more companies join into a single entity. Typically, a merger must be approved by the majority of shareholders of the company being acquired. In some cases, such as when the value is well into the billions of dollars, the majority of shareholders of the acquiring company require a vote of yes.

And some of the more recent bank mergers are among the largegest in the U.S. On Feb. 19, Capital One announced that it’s acquiring Discover Financial Services for $35.3 billion which, if approved, would build it the fifth largest U.S. bank. As of last December, Capital One is listed as the ninth largest U.S. bank, with consolidated assets of $475.6 billion, while Discover Bank is ranked at 27 with assets of $149.4 billion, according to the Federal Reserve.

Let’s see at some of the largest bank mergers and acquisitions, including some recent ones, and explore how mergers like these could affect you as a bank customer.

Date	Acquiring bank	Acquired bank	Purchase price
Sept. 30, 1998	Bank of America	NationsBank	$62 billion
July 1, 2004	J.P. Morgan Chase	Bank One	$58 billion
Jan. 1, 2009	Bank of America	Merrill Lynch	$50 billion
Oct. 27, 2003	Bank of America	Fleet	$47 billion
Feb. 19, 2024*	Capital One	Discover Bank	$35.3 billion
July 2, 2007	Bank of New York	Mellon Financial Corp.	$18.4 billion
Oct. 3, 2008	Wells Fargo	Wachovia Corp.	$15.1 billion
Aug. 28, 1995	Chase Manhattan Corp.	Chemical Banking Corp.	$10 billion
Dec. 31, 2008	PNC	National City	$6.1 billion
June 23, 2017	CIBC	PrivateBancorp	$5 billion
July 29, 2016	KeyCorp	First Niagara	$4.1 billion

Date	Acquiring bank	Acquired bank	Purchase price
Feb. 1, 2023	BMO Harris	Bank of the West	$16.3 billion
April 2, 2022	M&T Bank	People’s United	$8.3 billion
Jan. 4, 2022	First Citizens	CIT Bank	$2.2 billion
June 9, 2021	Huntington	TCF	$6 billion
Dec. 9, 2019	BB&T and SunTrust (merger of equals)		$66 billion

In 2023, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic all failed as a result of customers pulling out their deposits – what is known as a run on the bank. All three have new owners. Silicon Valley Bank depositors are now with First Citizens, while Signature Bank customers are with Flagstar Bank, a subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp, and First Republic customers now bank with Chase.