M&T Bank’s acquisition of Connecticut’s People’s United Bank cleared its final regulatory hurdle on Friday, with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors voting unanimously to approve the $7.6 billion deal.

The deal is now expected to close within weeks.

M&T officials acknowledged the Federal Reserve’s approval of the deal, but had no further comment.

In a letter to shareholders released March 1, M&T CEO and Chairman Rene Jones said the merger would serve Connecticut and New England, which he said have seen population loss and higher economic growth. slower than the rest of the country.

“Ours may not be the markets garnering attention for high growth and new migrants from other parts of the United States,” Jones wrote in the letter. “But, nevertheless, they represent 22% of the American population and an even larger share (25%) of the GDP. We both understand that the Northeast remains a vital region, marked not only by places that have fallen behind, but also by areas of exceptional wealth, from Fairfield County, Connecticut to Bethesda and Boston.

None of Connecticut’s elected leaders commented Friday on the Federal Reserve’s action.


M&T Bank does business in Connecticut and 10 other states as well as the District of Columbia, according to the Federal Reserve filing. When the deal closes, the merged banks will have 157 branches in Connecticut.

When the deal closes, M&T will become the 17th largest deposit-taking organization in the United States, with consolidated assets of about $215.6 billion, according to federal filing. The bank would control consolidated deposits of approximately $181.6 billion, which would represent approximately 1% of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions in the United States.

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