The first issue of Mainebiz led with the Casco Northern sale.
Updated: April 29, 2019
Bank Mergers
Mergers have changed the face of banking in Maine
File Photos / Tim Greenway
Curtis Simard (left), president and CEO of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, and Gregory Dufour, president and CEO of Camden National Bank, have overseen mergers that have helped their banks grow.
Banks doing business in Maine in 1994 could be divided much the way they are now — the banks based in Maine and out-of-state banks with a large presence here.
Many of the Maine-based banks are still around, if bigger, now. There have been some mergers here and there. But it’s with the national banks that Maine has seen some of the biggest changes.
Twenty-five years ago, Fleet Bank had the largest share of deposits in Maine, controlling 17% of the market (see chart), followed by KeyBank and People’s Heritage Savings Bank. Bangor Savings, Camden National and Bar Harbor Bank & Trust — the three largest Maine-based banks today — were in the top 10, but had a far smaller reach, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.
Fleet Bank was acquired by Bank of America in 2004 for $47 billion in what was a spat of huge bank mergers.
Early on, one of the biggest deals was for Casco Northern Bank, whose 37 branches were acquired by Fleet Bank’s parent. For regulatory reasons, certain assets were sold to KeyBank in June 1995. At that time, Casco Northern was Maine’s fourth-largest bank, by market share, with 7.53% of the market (behind Fleet Bank, KeyBank and People’s Heritage).
TD Bank, which today has the largest share of the Maine banking market, was not a player in this market until 2005. People’s Heritage acquired BankNorth, but took on the BankNorth name in 2005. Then TD eventually acquired BankNorth. In 2008 TD BankNorth merges with Commerce Bank, which had dual headquarters in Portland and Cherry Hill, N.J. By June 2008, all branches were trading under the TD Bank flag, according to the Federal Reserve Bank database.
People’s United came into this market in 2008, acquiring Portland-based Maine Bank & Trust.
Here are some of the notable mergers of the past several years:
Camden National merges with Bank of Maine: Oct. 16, 2015. For Camden National, which is based in Camden, this was a geographic move, giving it branches to the south, in Portland, Kennebunk, Saco and York — what it described at the time as the “fast-growing markets of southern Maine.” While the deal was described as a merger, the 24 Bank of Maine branches took on the Camden National flag. With the new branches, Camden National now had 64 branches. With $3.6 billion, it took the lead as Maine’s largest bank.
Bangor Savings and Granite Bank in New Hampshire merge in October 2017, giving Bangor Savings a presence in Portsmouth and the Seacoast area. Bangor reinforced its presence in Bangor, opening a new headquarters on the waterfront. More than 400 workers will be housed there.
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust buys Lake Sunapee National Bank in all-stock deal for $143 million, January 2017. The deal expanded Bar Harbor Bank’s footprint to all three northern New England states — a first for a Maine-based bank. The deal doubled its assets to around $3.3 billion.
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