Associated Banc-Corp (ASB) To Acquire Huntington's Operations

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) recently received the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s approval to acquire the Wisconsin operations of Huntington Bancshares’ (NASDAQ:HBAN) arm — The Huntington National Bank. The deal is expected to close in June 2019.

Per the terms of transaction, Associated will acquire about $850 million of deposits, $134 million worth loans and 32 branch locations. The companies expect this deal to be immaterial to their performance.

Associated’s president and CEO Philip B. Flynn noted, “We are excited for the opportunity to welcome Huntington’s Wisconsin customers to Associated Bank as we strengthen our franchise and expand services into 13 additional communities.”

Associated has been expanding inorganically over the past several years. Earlier, in 2018, the company acquired Bank Mutual Corporation for $485.26 million.

Acquisitions by Other Banks

Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) completed the buyout of FCB Financial Holdings, Inc. Following the completion, systems, customers, branches and branding of FCB are expected to be transitioned into Synovus by the second quarter of 2019. The deal was announced in July 2018.

SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) closed the acquisition of Boston-based Leerink Holdings LLC — an investment bank focused on the healthcare and life science industries — for $280 million in cash. The deal was announced in November 2018.

Our Take

Associated is well positioned to grow further from opportunistic acquisitions, given its strong liquidity position and favorable banking consolidation environment.

Shares of Associated have lost 4.4% compared with the industry’s 4% decline in the past year.

Associated currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

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