The sharp rebound in bank M&A that many expected in 2024 did not quite materialize as the number of deals remained below historic averages, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
Key highlights from the analysis include:
The number of bank M&A announcements jumped to 125 in 2024 from 98 in 2023. However, the 2024 tally trailed 2021’s 201 deals and 2022’s 156 deals, and total transactions in the sector regularly topped 240 in the pre-pandemic years.
Activity picked up after the first quarter recorded 26 deals with a total value of $796.2 million. The next three quarters recorded 33 deal announcements on average, and the total value averaged $5.17 billion for each period.
A handful of large deals helped push the total announced value to a three-year high at $16.31 billion, up nearly fourfold from 2023’s $4.15 billion, but it was far below 2021’s total of $76.73 billion.
Based on announced value, the largest deal of the year was SouthState’s $2.02 billion purchase of Independent Bank Group, followed by UMB Financial’s $1.99 billion announced purchase of Heartland Financial USA.
