Sullivan & Cromwell led all law firm advisers on announced bank M&A deals, measured by value, in 2021. We advised on deals totaling more than $52 billion, representing two-thirds of the $77 billion of bank M&A deals announced last year.
In the biggest deal of 2021, we advised Europe’s largest bank, BNP Paribas, in the $16.3 billion pending sale of its Bank of the West business. We also helped another major international bank redefine its presence in the United States, advising Japan’s largest bank, MUFG, as it reached an $8 billion deal to sell its U.S. regional bank franchise to U.S. Bancorp. In other deals, we advised M&T in its pending $7.6 billion acquisition of People’s United, BancorpSouth on its $6 billion merger with Cadence, and Citizens Financial on its $3.5 billion pending acquisition of Investors Bancorp.
“We’re grateful that so many clients turned to us for their biggest deals,” says Mitch Eitel, the head of S&C’s Financial Services Group. “I’m proud of our team for helping our clients navigate through these complex deals in a very active market.”
Global Bank M&A Rankings 2021
Ranked by dollar value ($ millions)
Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence.
“Sullivan & Cromwell is head and shoulders above everybody else. A select number of law firms can play in the space and they are our go-to.”
–Chambers USA
Our premier Financial Services practice has the versatility and depth of knowledge to advise a wide variety of financial institutions—from some of the world’s biggest to innovative startups—on their most crucial matters spanning regulatory, transactions, litigation and enforcement actions.