Branch purchases provide immediate access to a new customer base. Often, this has a positive effect on the bottom line.
Young & Associates offers experienced acquisition opportunity evaluation. Our vast banking background means we can assist in structuring transactions, negotiations and due diligence to assure the smooth completion of deals. We can assist with both branch acquisitions and whole-bank mergers.
Most of our professionals are former bankers who are familiar with the social, economic and political issues involved in transactions. Many of our professionals have been responsible for merger integration activities that follow the announcement of the deal.
With merger and acquisition activity expected to rise in the near future, we can assist with the following:
Due Diligence Assistance
- Loan Due Diligence: We can provide a timely assessment of the underwriting, management and quality of the target’s loan portfolio. We have experts from all disciplines of lending, including ALLL analysis and credit process. We will help you understand the culture of the organization you are acquiring.
- Interest Rate Risk and Liquidity Management Due Diligence: We can assist you in determining the target institution’s level of interest rate and liquidity risk. This can then help you as you consider the combined organization’s level of risk.
- Compliance Due Diligence: Many aspects of compliance, such as Fair Lending and BSA/AML, will become the acquirer’s problem if there was an issue prior to acquisition. Having the target’s compliance program reviewed prior to closing can help you understand the degree of compliance risk you will be assuming.
- IT Due Diligence: This is an often overlooked but critical piece of information to understand or what IT-related issues a target bank may have that will need to be addressed post-acquisition.
- Strategic Planning: We can help you assess how the acquisition will fit into your strategic direction. Analyzing how the target fits with your culture and your strategic direction is one of the most important aspects of a successful acquisition.
- Succession Planning: While much of the attention in an acquisition analysis is on the financial aspects of the transaction, the quality and depth of the human resources of the target institution are the drivers of the target’s current success or challenges. We can assist you with reviewing the target’s succession plan or help you craft a new one for the combined organization.
Interagency Bank Merger Application Assistance
We can assist you with the delineation of the relevant geographic markets, evaluation of competitive factors in the proposed transaction, CRA assessment area data and mapping, demographic information, business environment data, information on traffic patterns, and other relevant market information. We can also help you craft your business plan that is a required part of the application.
Post-Acquisition Integration
Post-acquisition integration is the key to whether your merger/acquisition is successful. We can help you achieve the results you expect from the transaction with the following:
- Employee and Customer Communications
- Strategic, Capital, and Succession Plan Updates, based on the combined organization
- Re-assessment of your Branch Network. Does it make sense to consolidate any branches, especially given the changes that the pandemic has brought regarding digital banking adoption?
- Periodic Loan Review and Compliance Review. This will allow you to assess the quality of results at both the overall organization and the acquired organization.
- Analysis of Workflow and Staffing of the combined organization
- Assessment of your Human Resources Management. Retaining key members of the acquired organization’s staff is often the biggest determinant of future success. This is especially true for your frontline commercial/ag/private bankers and key deposit/cash management personnel who are often the day-to-day face of the organization for your largest customers.
Find more information on how we can assist in your M&A efforts.
