First Niagara Bank
| Founded | Lockport, New York May 11, 1870 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | October 7, 2016 |
| Fate | Acquired by Mid-Atlantic, New England |
Key people | Gary M. Crosby (President and CEO)[1] Joe Saffire (Executive Vice President) Greg Norwood (Chief Financial Officer) Mark Rendulic (Executive Vice President) |
| Products | Financial services |
| Total assets | $40.02 billion (2016)[2] |
Number of employees | ~5,000 |
| Website | www |
First Niagara Bank was a
History
It was founded in 1870 as Farmers and Mechanics' Savings Bank and was then re-branded as Lockport Savings Bank in 1967. In 2000 the bank was rebranded as First Niagara. The bank was based in its former home county, Niagara until the 1990s when it spread to nearby Buffalo, New York and its surrounding Erie County. Part of this growth could be attributed to the collapse of the Buffalo-centric banks Goldome and Empire of America.[4] Most of this growth was from the recruitment of new customers, as opposed to the purchase of other firms' assets. Although, in 1998 the bank did purchase the regional insurance brokerage firm Warren-Hoffman & Associates Inc. as a means of entering the insurance business.[5] First Niagara, in 2000, acquired Albion Bancorp of Albion, NY to bring the total number of bank branches to 22.
In 2002, First Niagara acquired Cayuga Bank of Auburn, New York and Cortland Savings Bank in Cortland, New York. In 2003, First Niagara acquired the Bank of Finger Lakes in Geneva, New York. In 2004, First Niagara acquired Troy Savings Bank in Albany, New York.[6] In 2005, First Niagara acquired Hudson River Bank and Trust in Hudson, New York.[7]
In April 2010, First Niagara Financial Group acquired Pennsylvania-based
In August 2010, First Niagara announced its acquisition of NewAlliance Bank of Connecticut.[8] The stock holders approved the merger in December 2010 and the transaction closed on April 15, 2011. This provided First Niagara with over 340 branches and 500 ATMs.
On August 25, 2011, First Niagara bought the naming rights for HSBC Arena in Buffalo, renaming it the
On October 30, 2015, First Niagara Bank agreed to be acquired by KeyCorp.
21st century growth
National City
On April 7, 2009, First Niagara agreed to buy 57 National City branches in Western Pennsylvania from PNC Financial Services[12] and officially took over those branches on September 8 after the signs were changed over from National City during Labor Day Weekend.[13]
PNC, which had acquired National City in late 2008 with money from the
First Niagara, which had been eyeing an expansion into Pittsburgh for some time,[12] was immediately ranked third in market share at 8%, ahead of the longer-established Dollar Bank and First Commonwealth Bank at six and five percent, respectively.[12] First Niagara retained all National City employees at the acquired branches in the Pittsburgh and Erie areas, and established a regional office in Downtown Pittsburgh's 11 Stanwix Street tower.[12]
First Niagara was outbid for the four branches in
On August 4, 2009, First Niagara agreed to take over the
Harleysville National
On July 27, 2009, First Niagara agreed to acquire the Philadelphia-area-based Harleysville National Corporation financial services company in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately US$237,000,000 or $5.50 per share, allowing First Niagara its first access to the Philadelphia market.[22] The deal provided First Niagara with $5.6 billion in assets, including $3.6 billion in loans and $4.1 billion in deposits in 83 bank branches in nine Eastern Pennsylvania counties. The parent company of Harleysville National Bank also operates East Penn Bank, Millennium Wealth Management and Cornerstone Companies. First Niagara maintained all Harleysville National and East Penn branches, and the Pennsylvania company's growing commercial banking and wealth-management business. Harleysville had over 1,100 employees. The deal was completed on April 9, 2010.[23]
HSBC deal expands presence in northeastern U.S.
On July 31, 2011, First Niagara announced it would purchase from UK-based HSBC Holdings plc nearly half of its HSBC Bank USA branch network, including 195 branches for a price of US$1 billion. Of these, six branches in New York City suburbs, and six in Connecticut; most of these branches had been part of Buffalo-based Marine Midland Bank before being re-branded to HSBC Bank USA in the late 1990s. The deal included US$15 billion in deposits, US$2.8 billion in loans, and US$4.3 billion in assets under management. The deal also nearly doubled First Niagara's branch network to about 450 branches, US$38 billion in assets, and US$30 billion in deposits. Pending regulatory approval, the deal will close in early 2012. Investors had complained that HSBC had spread itself too thinly, with roughly 95 million customers and 300,000 employees in 87 markets. As a result of the acquisition, the United States Department of Justice required First Niagara to divest itself of 26 branches.[24] First Niagara ended up spinning off 64 branches; 37 to KeyBank, 19 to Community Bank, and 8 to Five Star Bank.[25]
On October 30, 2015, First Niagara Bank agreed to be acquired by
See also
References
- ^ Epstein, Jonathan (19 March 2013). "First Niagara replaces Koelmel as CEO". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The World's Largest Public Companies". Forbes.
- ^ "Top 50 holding companies (HCs) as of 06/30/2013". United States Federal Reserve, National Information Center. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ Hartley, Tom (April 21, 1997). "Lockport Savings builds empire".
- ^ "Lockport Savings Bank Enters the Insurance Market; Savings Bank Agrees to Acquire Warren-Hoffman & Associates". Business Wire. 1998.
- ^ "Troy Financial buy makes First Niagara prominent player - 2003-08-18 - The Business Review (Albany)". Archived from the original on 2004-05-10.
- ^ Newswires, Yolanda E. McBrideDow Jones (2 April 2004). "First Niagara Agrees to Buy Rival Hudson River Bancorp". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ "First Niagara to buy NewAlliance in $1.5 billion deal".
- ^ "Sabres Announce HSBC Arena Name Change to First Niagara Center". WBEN. Retrieved 25 August 2011. [permanent dead link]
- ^ a b "About Key | KeyBank".
- ^ "KeyCorp to sell 18 First Niagara branches to Northwest - Strictly Business". Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
- ^ a b c d e http://kdka.com/business/PNC.First.Niagara.2.978660.html [permanent dead link]
- ^ "National City Bank Transition to First Niagara Complete - kdka.com". Archived from the original on 2009-11-10. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ^ http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/documents/branches-divested.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Dan (September 9, 2007). "Smaller banks aiming to raise profiles locally". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ a b Sabatini, Patricia (March 21, 2009). "FNB won't buy National City units". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ Sabatini, Patricia (April 8, 2009). "PNC sells National City branches". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ "PNC Sells Branches to First Niagara, Marquette (Update1)". Bloomberg. April 7, 2009. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Sabatini, Patricia (August 4, 2009). "First Niagara gets Sheetz ATMs". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ Sabatini, Patricia (September 5, 2009). "First Niagara arrives in Western Pa". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ Jeff Blumenthal (August 14, 2012), "First Niagara Bank appealing to college students", Philadelphia Business Journal, bizjournals.com, retrieved September 9, 2012
- ^ Blumenthal, Jeff (9 April 2010). "First Niagara completes purchase of Harleysville National". American City Business Journals. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ "Branches to be divested" (PDF). Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ "Press Release Archive". Retrieved 9 February 2012.