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The
increase in deal activity will also be driven by expense
pressure from the new regulatory environment, Cassidy wrote in a
note to clients.
U.S. regional banks have long complained that capital reforms,
intended to rein in the excesses of bigger banks, have placed
undue burdens on smaller lenders.
Now, an imminent interest rate hike appears doubtful after the
U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting minutes on Wednesday highlighted
concern over the state of the global economy.
Cassidy, who is rated 4-star by Thomson Reuters StarMine, said
acquisitions by bigger banks, however, are unlikely until late
2016 or 2017 due to the heightened regulatory scrutiny.
Most banking buys so far have been by lenders with less than $5
billion in assets.
This week, BB&T Corp <BBT.N> said it would buy National Penn
Bancshares Inc <NPBC.O> for about $1.8 billion, hot on the heels
of regulatory approval for its $2.5 billion takeover of
Susquehanna Bancshares Inc, a rare large U.S. banking deal since
the financial crisis.
Cassidy said lenders that had strong takeover appeal included
Republic First Bancorp Inc, Cascade Bancorp, Anchor BanCorp
Wisconsin Inc, Capital City Bank Group Inc and Heartland
Financial USA Inc.
More than 2,800 deals worth a total $240 billion have been
announced this year in the global finance industry, an increase
of 8 percent in value terms from the same period last year,
according to Thomson Reuters data.
(Reporting by Richa Naidu and Tenzin Pema in Bengaluru; Editing
by Sriraj Kalluvila)
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