News

Peter Wilder was quoted in "Midwest leads country in bank M&A, but Wisconsin deal count down from last year" (Biz Times)

Midwest banks are leading the way in mergers and acquisition activity in 2017, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

There are about 41 banks for sale in the Midwest right now, which accounts for 35 percent of U.S. M&A deals. The total Midwest deal value is about $1.4 billion. On average, the selling banks have $245 million in assets.

This is driven by several factors, including the fact that Midwestern states simply have more bank charters than other areas of the country. Wisconsin has 215 bank charters, while Virginia has 80 and California has 176, for example.

“There is more consolidation in the Midwest just because there’s more banks,” said Peter Wilder, an attorney in the banking and financial institutions practice group at Godfrey & Kahn S.C. in Milwaukee. “Some people see that as just sort of right sizing the number of charters.”

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