Sterling Bancorp Searching for Portfolio Deals, Northeast Bank Acquisitions

Montebello, NY-based Sterling Bancorp may announce a portfolio acquisition by the end of the year, management said on their second-quarter earnings call.

When pressed by analysts to give more detail on the bank's M&A plans, President and CEO Jack Kopnisky said there is a 75% chance the bank will announce a portfolio acquisition by the end of 2019. He said if the bank does not announce one by the end of this year, it will likely announce an acquisition early in 2020.

"We're very confident of being able to announce and execute on the same type of deals that we've done [in the last two years]," said Kopnisky.

The bank also will look at whole-bank M&A opportunities in the Northeast, said Kopnisky. The goal of acquisitions for Sterling is primarily to create more funding, and management has had conversations with several banks interested in selling, he added.

"There are more banks that want to sell than there are buyers of banks," he said.

Those conversations with potential targets do not necessarily mean deals are going through, Kopnisky said. "Actually making things happen is something separate," he said.