Bank M&A is officially back: monthly deal announcements hit a 16-month high in April 2021, matching the average monthly deal count seen in the pre-COVID period of full-year 2019. Indeed, the aggregate deal value announced in April alone – almost $14 billion – was approximately 50% of the total deal value announced in all of 2020.
Transaction pricing has also rebounded sharply. The median price-to-tangible book multiple and median price-to-earnings multiple (trailing twelve months) among deals announced in April 2021 were both virtually identical to the pre-COVID median seen in full-year 2019.
Momentum in the bank M&A arena, which began building in the fall of 2020, has only accelerated in 2021 as a convergence of factors are increasingly driving acquirer demand and seller supply alike. We anticipate the pace of deal announcements to swell even further in the quarters ahead particularly given the headwinds challenging bank earnings.
Finally, on April 1st, Durand Bancorp Inc. agreed to be acquired by High Point Financial Services Inc. while on April 23rd, Mackinaw Valley Financial Services agreed to be acquired by First Bancorp of Taylorville, Inc. (party advised by Olsen Palmer indicated in bold). Olsen Palmer remains one of the top 3 bank M&A advisors nationwide according to S&P Global, based on the number of transactions advised upon over the last twelve months.
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