Without question, bank M&A activity is back: the number of deals announced in the first half of 2021 was nearly twice that of the first half of 2020. The acceleration in deal activity that began in the fall of 2020 is hastening: June of 2021 saw 26 whole-bank M&A deal announcements, the highest monthly deal count the industry has seen in almost 2 years. If the pace of deal announcements seen in June continues for the remainder of the year, 2021 would post a deal count that squarely rivals the frothy annual activity seen in the pre-COVID years.
Deal pricing has similarly rebounded off the COVID-induced trough recorded in 2020. Indeed, valuations are now largely back to pre-COVID levels: the median price-to-tangible book multiple through 1H 2021 was 1.53x, just below the pre-COVID median of 1.58x seen in full-year 2019.
Additionally in June, on June 3rd, Tri-State Bank of Memphis agreed to be acquired by Liberty Financial Services, Inc. while on June 7th, Landmark Community Bank agreed to be acquired by Simmons First National Corporation in a stock-and-cash deal valued at $146.3 million as of the date of the agreement (party advised by Olsen Palmer indicated in bold).
Olsen Palmer is pleased to report that we are ranked as one of the top 3 bank M&A advisors across the entire U.S. according to S&P Global, based on the number of whole-bank M&A transactions advised upon over the last twelve months, including both sell-side and buy-side engagements.
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