Citizens Bank acquires Charter One
In yet another step in this year's mad rush to bank consolidation, Rhode Island-based Citizens Financial Group announced an agreement to acquire Cleveland-based Charter One Financial Inc. for $10.5 billion.
This deal, if approved, will make Citizens one of the 10 largest banks in the US, adding over 600 branches and over$40 billion in assets. The deal will also allow Citizens, which has a strong presence in New England (where it is the #2 bank) and the Philadelphia area to extend itself to six new states: Ohio, Michigan, New York, Illinois, Vermont and Indiana.
The new bank will have $128.8 billion in assets and 1,400 branches in 13 states.
Charter also owns ICX, a heavy equipment leasing company, and Charter One Auto Finance, a car loan service. It has been built through over 20 acquisitions since 1989. It is especially strong in northern Ohio and around Chicago.
Charter's most recent acquisitions:
1999 St. Paul Federal, Ill.
2001 Alliance Bancorp, Ill.
2001 Superior Federal, Ill.
2002 Charter National, Mich.
2003 Advance Bancorp, Ill.
Citizens Bank, which was founded in 1828 in Rhode Island, was bought in 1989 by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The Charter One deal is a step on the way to making a nation-wide bank, and Royal Bank has aggressively pursued new opportunities.
According to a report in the Boston Globe ("Citizens Bank to Acquire Charter One", 5/5/2004),
Even before the Charter One deal, Citizens has been picking up momentum. The bank said that it gained more than 50,000 checking accounts in the first three months of this year, compared to 11,000 at its larger rival, Fleet. The bank also introduced a free checking account called "green checking" and has been aggressively marketing it in the newspapers, on television, and on the radio.
Citizen's recent acquisitions:
1999 Commercial Group of State Street Bank, Boston
2000 US Trust, Boston
2001 Mellon Bank, Pa.
2002 Medford Bank, Mass.
2002 Commonwealth Bancorp, Pa.
2003 CambridgePort Bank, Mass.
2003 Community Bancorp, Mass.
2003 Roxborough Manayunk Bank, Pa
