New York, August 27, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service placed the ratings of M&T Bank Corporation
(M&T) and its subsidiaries on review for downgrade. The holding
company is rated A3 for senior debt and its lead bank, Manufacturers
& Traders Trust Company, has a standalone bank financial strength
rating (BFSR)/baseline credit assessment (BCA) of C+/a2 and deposit
ratings of A2/Prime-1.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The rating review follows the announcement that M&T has entered into
a definitive agreement to acquire New Jersey-based Hudson City
Bancorp, Inc. (Hudson City) in a 60% stock/40%
cash transaction valued at approximately $3.7 billion.
The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2013.
Moody's said the review will primarily focus on the credit profile of
Hudson City, an unrated thrift holding company, and the integration
challenges that it presents. This is a large acquisition in a market
in which M&T has a relatively modest deposit market position.
At $44 billion in reported assets, Hudson City represents
approximately 55% of M&T's total assets at June 30,
2012. Although M&T has a successful track record of acquiring
and integrating banks, Moody's noted that this acquisition is the
largest that M&T has announced to date.
Additionally, the acquisition of Hudson City will substantially
heighten M&T's exposure to residential mortgages through the addition
of its $28 billion portfolio. During the review, Moody's
will analyze the acquired residential mortgage portfolio for potential
losses versus M&T's estimated credit mark of 1.5% and
its overall capital position.
Moody's will also consider M&T's capital management plans post-acquisition.
M&T's capital position has traditionally been managed to lower levels
than similarly-rated peers. In Moody's view, this
has been a credit challenge especially considering M&T's sizable concentration
in commercial real estate.
M&T's current ratings are supported by its diversified regional consumer
and commercial banking businesses in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic
states and its strong underlying operating efficiency. This,
combined with the bank's comparatively strong asset quality performance,
enabled M&T to remain profitable and demonstrate lower earnings volatility
than many of its large US regional bank peers throughout the recent crisis.
The principal methodology used in this rating was Moody's Consolidated
Global Bank Rating Methodology published in June 2012. Please see
the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this
methodology.
M&T Bank Corporation is headquartered in Buffalo, New York and
reported assets of $81 billion at June 30, 2012.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
The Global Scale Credit Ratings on this press release that are issued
by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU are endorsed by Moody's
Investors Service Ltd., One Canada Square, Canary Wharf,
London E 14 5FA, UK, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph
3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's
office that has issued a particular Credit Rating is available on www.moodys.com.
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
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this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
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Information sources used to prepare the rating are the following:
parties involved in the ratings, public information, and confidential
and proprietary Moody's Investors Service information.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
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a rating.
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uses in assigning a rating is of sufficient quality and from sources Moody's
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Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has
issued the rating.
Joseph Pucella
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Robert Franklyn Young
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's reviews M&T for downgrade (A3 senior) following acquisition announcement