Commercial
JPMorgan Chase has been building a network of payments partners over the past three years, now totaling about 120 companies, to help the bank integrate with clients' software and monitor industry trends. Todd Manning, who joined JPMorgan this year as managing director and head of corporate development and partnerships for the bank's payments arm, said the network, formed in 2023, includes partners such as Visa, Ingenico and Epic Systems. The bank has about 30 people focused on new partnership origination, venture investments and M&A opportunities. JPMorgan typically makes non-controlling investments of under 5% equity ownership in less than one-third of its partners, and while acquisitions are possible, they are not frequent.
Omaha-based Pinnacle Bancorp will acquire Southern Bancshares, the parent company of Moulton, Texas-based SouthStar Bank. SouthStar has about $1.4 billion in assets, 16 branches and a loan production office across Austin and central Texas. Terms were not disclosed, and the transaction is set to close in January 2027. Pinnacle, with about $20.9 billion in assets and 164 branches across eight states, will expand its Texas presence beyond the Dallas-Fort Worth area. SouthStar CEO David Kapavik said the bank will continue operating under the SouthStar name through 2027 and that management and staff will remain.
TowneBank's $154 million acquisition of Blueharbor Bank is set to close in Q1 2027, reducing the pool of North Carolina banks with over $500 million in assets to about 17. The deal, priced at 2.2 times book value and a 17% deposit premium, underscores the scarcity value of remaining targets. Blueharbor, with $628 million in assets, operates five locations and will add to TowneBank's Charlotte metro presence. The transaction is 75% stock and includes board and regional leadership roles for Blueharbor executives.
Houston-based Third Coast Bancshares has agreed to acquire Oklahoma City-based Great Plains Bancshares and its subsidiary, Great Plains National Bank, for roughly $239.6 million in stock. The deal, expected to close in Q1 2027, will create a combined company with approximately $9 billion in assets and 43 branches across Oklahoma and Texas. Great Plains National Bank, which reported $1.9 billion in assets in June, operates 23 branches and entered the Dallas market in 2018. The merger will expand Third Coast into Oklahoma and deepen its presence in Dallas. Great Plains CEO Mark Russell will continue in a leadership role, and two Great Plains representatives will join the boards of Third Coast and Third Coast Bank. Pro forma ownership will be approximately 78% Third Coast shareholders and 22% Great Plains shareholders. The deal follows Third Coast's $123 million acquisition of Keystone Bancshares, which closed in February.
Ally Financial CEO Michael Rhodes says strategy is about choices, and sometimes the best strategy is to do less, not more. Since taking the top post in April 2024, Rhodes has narrowed Ally's focus to three businesses: consumer banking, corporate finance and auto dealer financial services. The bank exited mortgages and sold its credit card program in early 2025, citing interest rate risk and a customer segment mismatch. Ally's full-year net income jumped about 28% from 2024 to 2025, to $852 million, and its core ROTCE was 11.8% in the second quarter. Rhodes acknowledges headwinds from the K-shaped economy, consumer stress and a recent Federal Reserve hike that pressures deposit costs, but he believes the focused model will continue to win.
Banking conferences in 2027 will offer leaders a chance to gauge the industry's direction amid anticipated changes such as increased M&A and tailored regulation, while areas like cryptocurrency frameworks remain uncertain. Events like Acquire or Be Acquired, ABA Conference for Community Bankers, Fintech Meetup, ICBA Live, ABA Washington Summit, CBA Live, The Financial Brand Forum, National Credit Union CEO Roundtable, and ABA Risk and Compliance Conference provide opportunities to connect with peers, explore emerging technologies like AI, and navigate evolving compliance expectations.
After taking the CEO post at Amerant Bancorp in November 2025, Carlos Iafigliola embarked on a credit turnaround. The bank conducted a third-party review of its loan portfolio, retooled its credit team, appointed a new chief credit officer, and revamped credit practices. Nonperforming assets, which had jumped to $140 million in Q3 2025, rose further to about $187 million in Q4 before dipping to $186.6 million in Q2 2026. The bank simplified its structure, trimmed expenses, and is now focusing on growing its commercial segment, particularly serving companies in logistics, education, and professional services in south Florida and Tampa. Amerant is also pursuing growth in Venezuela, where deposits increased to $2.5 billion in Q2.
Peoples Bancorp of Marietta, Ohio, announced Wednesday it will acquire Rockville, Maryland-based Capital Bancorp in a $728 million all-stock deal. The merger will strengthen Peoples' foothold in the Washington, D.C. metro area, where it first gained a presence through its 2021 acquisition of Premier Financial. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027, creating a combined company with approximately $14 billion in total assets, $10 billion in loans, $11 billion in deposits, and over 150 banking locations across eight states and Washington, D.C. Capital shareholders will receive 1.11 shares of Peoples common stock for each Capital share, valuing the transaction at $43.75 per share based on Peoples' 20-day volume-weighted average closing price of $39.41 as of Tuesday. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to Peoples' estimated 2027 earnings before one-time costs, with a tangible book value earnback period of less than three years. Three Capital board members will join Peoples' board after closing. This is Peoples' second acquisition of 2026, following its planned purchase of Citizens Bank of Kentucky, which received final regulatory approvals on Monday.
Valley National Bancorp, based in Morristown, New Jersey, has agreed to acquire Bluevine, a Jersey City-based small-business banking fintech, for $340 million in cash and stock. The deal, projected to close in early 2027, will bring Valley about $2.1 billion in deposits and expand its small-business customer base by 20 times. Bluevine, founded in 2013, has about 175,000 active small-business customers and provides digital banking, payments, lending, and financial management solutions. The acquisition also includes Bluevine's technology and AI capabilities, with about 180 R&D employees joining Valley. Bluevine CEO Eyal Lifshitz will join Valley as head of small-business banking. The deal consideration is 75% cash and 25% Valley stock, with expected earnings per share accretion of about 8% and tangible book value dilution of about 5% at closing. Valley executives said they do not anticipate pursuing additional acquisitions for the foreseeable future, following the recent announcement of another deal for Providence Financial Corp.
Huntington Bank has appointed Ameesh Vakharia as chief marketing and digital products officer, uniting its marketing and digital efforts into one team. In an interview, Vakharia explains how the combined structure aims to deliver consistent brand and product experiences across channels, the role of data and AI in personalization, and the bank's focus on customer-centric innovation as it expands across 21 states with $284 billion in assets.