Bank Mergers

Despite the wall of evidence that bank mergers add little or no value, yet investors and management continue to fuel the consolidation wave. This book draws on the actual experience of senior executives in over 30 banks with extensive merger experience to demonstrate how most mergers do in fact fail to meet objectives. It explores in detail the issues of strategic positioning, cost and revenue synergies, due diligence, IT selection and conversion, people selection, cultural conflict, leadership, and the decision making time frame. The book concludes that experienced and determined leadership, significant net cost savings, swift decision making and the cost of IT integration are key variables for success. It also suggests that the prospect of more cross border mergers and modest short term cost savings argues for a new pact between investors and bank management.

Author Biography

STEVEN I. DAVIS is a graduate of Amherst College and the Harvard Business School. He has spent his career in finance as a banking executive, management consultant, researcher, author and teacher. During his twenty year banking career, he was an officer of JP Morgan and Bankers Trust as well as the Managing Director of a London-based merchant bank. Since forming Davis International Banking Consultants in 1980, he has directed strategy studies for over 100 banking clients in the US and Europe. He lives in London.