Edward D. Herlihy, Richard K. Kim, and Brandon C. Price are Partners at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. This post is based on their Wachtell memorandum
As we enter the final months of 2026, we consider recent developments in bank M&A and offer a framework for preparing for future opportunities. Several significant regional bank deals have closed this year, including Santander/Webster ($12.3 billion), Fifth Third/Comerica ($10.9 billion), Pinnacle/Synovus ($8.6 billion), Huntington/Cadence ($7.4 billion) and PNC/FirstBank ($4.1 billion). Collectively, these transactions reflect a more favorable regulatory environment and demonstrate that even large bank mergers can obtain approval on substantially shorter timelines than in recent years. These transactions had a median sign to close period of just under 4 months, a significant improvement from the approximately 10 month average timeline for transactions valued over $500 million that closed from 2021 through 2024. More timely and predictable regulatory review can enhance deal certainty, accelerate synergies and reduce transaction related risks. The FDIC’s recent proposal to modernize and reform the deal approval process has the potential to further cement accelerated timelines and transparency in the review of bank mergers.
The largest bank deal announced this year was Santander’s $12.3 billion acquisition of Webster, which reversed a trend of large foreign banks exiting the U.S. and signified the attractiveness of high quality U.S. regional bank franchises. In early September, EverBank and WaFd announced a $3.9 billion reverse merger transaction aimed at creating increased operational scale and providing private equity investors in EverBank an opportunity to gain liquidity through access to the public markets. Perhaps most notable is the recent convergence in banking and fintech evidenced by Capital One’s $5.15 billion acquisition of Brex, Valley National’s acquisition of Bluevine, Chime’s acquisition of Stride Bank to become a bank holding company and a surge in new bank charters.
