A closer look at Webster-Sterling bank merger
The approximately $10 billion merger completed last week by the parent companies of Webster Bank and Sterling National Bank ranks among the largest corporate deals in Connecticut’s history.
By combining, Webster and Sterling have created one of the largest commercial banks in the Northeast.
Hearst Connecticut Media Group examined some of the key issues related to the deal that will affect Webster’s customers and employees.
What we know
By merging with Pearl River, N.Y.based Sterling, Webster has amassed a “core footprint” that extends from New York to Massachusetts. Webster now operates 202 financial centers in the Northeast.
The combined company — which has kept the Webster name — held approximately $65 billion in assets, $44 billion in loans and $53 billion in deposits, based on balances as of Dec. 31, 2021.
Today, Webster employs about 4,300 people.
As a result of the merger, Webster has relocated its headquarters from Waterbury to Stamford at 200 Elm St. In filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Webster lists 200 Elm as the address of its “principal executive offices.”
About four years ago, Webster established its presence at 200 Elm by leasing 25,000 square feet.
“Webster has had a corporate presence in Stamford for many years, and with our merger, it became the appropriate midpoint of our combined company footprint,” Webster said in a statement Friday in response to an inquiry from Hearst Connecticut.
The bank did not make anyone available for an interview to discuss its post-merger plans.
While the new headquarters is in Stamford, Webster officials have said Waterbury and Pearl River, which is in New York’s Rockland County, will be part of “a multicampus presence.”
“We maintain corporate offices throughout our expanded footprint. We continue to have a robust presence in Waterbury as well as the other corporate locations,” the company’s statement said. “Webster is a proud Connecticut-based company, and we continue to maintain a strong employee presence in all our corporate locations in Connecticut. It is business as usual for us.”
Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary is one of the elected officials who has been closely following the merger.
“I told them I was really concerned about the headquarters moving because bankers have traditionally supported our downtown businesses,” O’Leary said. “But (Webster CEO and President) John (Ciulla) reassured me that even though the bank is now based in Stamford, he's keeping an office here and that the bank was actually going to expand its presence here.”
Webster's legal, human resources, finance, accounting, corporate real estate and purchasing departments remain in the bank’s former headquarters location on Bank Street in Waterbury, O’Leary said.
More than 40 employees were based at the Bank Street offices before the headquarters moved, according to O’Leary, who was not certain about the exact number of people who worked there. O’Leary also said Webster has recently hired more than 20 people for Bank Streetbased positions.
Messages left for the offices of Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons and Rockland County Executive Ed Day inquiring about whether Webster had contacted them about its post-merger plans were not immediately returned.
Webster and Sterling clients “will continue to bank as they normally do” at branches and through Webster’s and Sterling’'s websites and mobile applications, Webster officials said in a press release last week.
There is also continuity in the bank’s leadership. Ciulla had served as CEO and president before the merger. Jack Kopnisky, who formerly served as Sterling’s CEO and president, has become executive chairman of Webster’s board of directors. Kopnisky is one of seven new directors appointed to the board, all of whom were directors of Sterling.
What we don’t know
Major corporate mergers often result in significant layoffs. For instance, Connecticut officials were concerned last summer when the pending acquisition of Bridgeportbased People’s United Bank by M&T Bank, of Buffalo, N.Y., called for layoffs of about 750 Connecticutbased employees.
Webster officials have not reported to the state any planned mass job cuts. But they have not promised that their merger would not result in any layoffs.
“Our merger with Sterling is about enhancing our scale, having greater capabilities and expanding the geographies we serve,” Webster said in its statement. “With very little banking center overlap, there was minimal impact to our workforce and no changes to our banking center network. We are committed to investing in our talent, and as a growing commercial bank, we expect there to be new positions and expanded growth opportunities for our colleagues going forward.”
As for the deployment of its workforce, it is difficult to quantify how many employees work in each location. Webster officials said they could not specify how many employees are based in each of their Stamford, Waterbury or Pearl River locations because “there are no specific headcounts for any locations as we have a hybrid and remote working model. Our colleagues work in company locations based on the needs of our customers and the most productive way to work in a safe and collaborative manner.”