Bank mergers dry up in NY, leaving holdouts to struggle; Stocks, margins fade as high interest rates persevere; CEOs made wrong bet.(News)

Crain's New York Business,  May, 2007  

Tags: bank, interest rate, Sovereign Bancorp Inc., stock

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Byline: Tom Fredrickson After running at a boil for four years in the New York area, bank mergers have gone into a deep chill. Giants like Wachovia Corp., TD Banknorth Inc., Capital One and Sovereign Bancorp say they're too busy absorbing acquisitions or concentrating on organic growth to devour more small fry.

Down to a trickle even midsize banks are sitting on the sidelines. Only two tiny deals at a combined $287 million have been announced this year in the metro area, according to SNL Financial. That compares with 10 transactions worth $22.2 billion last year and 11 ...

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