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April 2, 2022

M&T Bank closes $8.3B purchase of People’s United Bank

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

Buffalo-based M&T Bank announced Saturday morning it has closed on its $8.3 billion purchase of Bridgeport-based People’s United Bank.

The completion of the deal ends a more than year-long acquisition process that was delayed several times while it was awaiting approval from the Federal Reserve. The Fed signed off on the deal early last month. 

The combined company with $200 billion in assets now employs more than 22,000 people and has a network of over 1,000 branches and 2,200 ATMs that span 12 states from Maine to Virginia and Washington, D.C. 

"Today marks an important day in M&T's history as we welcome People's United to our family," said René Jones, chairman and chief executive officer of M&T, who will lead the combined company in the same capacity. "People's United is a strong strategic and cultural fit and I am truly excited about the positive impact our combined company will have in the communities we serve. Together, we have the capabilities and scale of a regional bank with the engagement model of a community-based organization to help us better serve new and existing customers, businesses and communities."

As part of the deal, People's United's headquarters in Bridgeport will now become M&T's New England regional headquarters. M&T Bank also previously announced a five-year, $43 billion community growth plan that will provide loans, investments and other financial support for low-to-moderate income (LMI) families and neighborhoods across the combined M&T and People's United footprint.

M&T and People’s United first announced plans to join operations in February 2021. The companies had initially expected to finish the deal by the end of last year, but the Federal Reserve took longer than expected to issue a ruling on the linkup.

The agency announced its approval in March, saying the acquisition would not give the combined bank control of a disproportionate share of the retail banking market in the states where M&T and People’s United operate.

M&T took on some criticism from Connecticut officials last summer when the bank disclosed that it would cut 747 workers in the state after the deal was finalized. M&T Bank later promised to keep at least 1,000 employees at People’s headquarters in downtown Bridgeport.
 

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