Let It Snow – A Buffalo “Frozen” Parody

Wilmington Trust Sold To M&T Bank

Image via Wikipedia

Yet another local bank is being gobbled up by a larger one.  Wilmington Trust has been purchased, at a very discounted rate, by M&T Bank after being bailed out in 2008 by the federal government.

Wilmington Trust made a profit every year from 1903 to 2008 when they lost their proverbial shirt on construction loans.

For those of you who like trivia, M&T Bank and First Niagara Bank are both Buffalo, NY based banks and have recently purchased Philadelphia area banks.

Once the sale goes through next summer, Wilmington Trust branches will be renamed and M&T Bank will become Delaware’s largest bank (deposits).

Who The Heck Is First Niagara Bank Or Guess Who’s Coming To Pottstown

You may have seen the picture of the North End Harleysville Bank with a First Niagara sign in the Mercury the other day.  Now they changed the sign at the East End branch as well.  The signs are covered up with Harleysville banners for now, but not for long.

So who is First Niagara Bank?  They are a Buffalo, NY based bank.  First Niagara recently moved their headquarters into downtown Buffalo. 

First Niagara is aggressively expanding.   First it was western Pennsylvania where they made a foray into the Pittsburgh market.  First Niagara bought 57 branches of National City Bank.  National City Bank was a casualty of the subprime mortgage crisis and was forced to sell off branches by the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

In July of 2009, First Niagara bought Harleysville National Bank which gives them over 80 branches in the Philadelphia region.  So far, First Niagara intends to keep all existing branches open.  According to the First Niagara website, with the Harleysville acquisition they will have 254 branches with $19.3 billion in assets and $13.9 billion in deposits.

So much for having a Pottstown based bank :(.  First, Security National was gobbled up by Harleysville.  Now Harleysville has been gobbled up by First Niagara. 

First Niagara headquarters picture below.