By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – CIT Group stock (NYSE:CIT) climbed 10% in Monday’s premarket after its proposed $2-billion merger with First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) got the Federal Reserve’s approval.
At over $100 billion in assets and over $80 billion in deposits, the all-stock merger of regional heavyweights will create the 19th largest bank in the U.S., according to an October 16, 2020 release by CIT.
First Citizens has a robust low-cost retail deposit franchise while CIT is strong in commercial lending.
First Citizens stockholders will own around 61% and CIT stockholders nearly 39% of the combined company.
The banks expect the transaction to raise earnings per share by over 50% once cost savings are fully phased in.
The combined entity will operate under the First Citizens name and be based in Raleigh, North Carolina.