The Wall Street Journal's
Deal
Journal blog suggests that management changes at Commerce Bancorp could
put the Cherry Hill, N.J. institution in play. Commerce could indeed be ripe
for a takeover because its network of branches are situated in some highly
desirable markets: New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia and South Florida.
Six months ago, the Scotsman newspaper suggested RBS was looking for a U.S.
acquisition and at that time Commerce seemed like a perfect target for its
U.S. subsidiary—Citizens Bank of Providence, R.I. While Citizens spans much of
New England, the Mid Atlantic and the Great Lakes region, it has a gaping hole
from New York City through the suburbs of New Jersey, making Commerce a
perfect fit. If RBS were to finally walk away from ABN Amro
after
losing its chance for the Dutch bank's U.S. unit LaSalle, an acquisition
of Commerce seems more likely. —Matthew Wurtzel
See
post from Deal Journal
See
June 27 ABN Amro story from TheDeal.com
See
December post from Dealscape
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