The recent purchase of New Jersey-based Commerce Bank by a Canadian competitor will not affect the company’s further expansion into the D.C. area, a spokesperson for Commerce said Tuesday.
Toronto-Dominion Bank agreed to purchase Commerce for $8.5 billion in what is the biggest foreign takeover by a Canadian lender to date.
“This is a growth story, and it will continue to be a growth story,” said Commerce spokesman David Flaherty Tuesday. Flaherty said the firm has no plans to close any branches, and will continue to open up new ones in the D.C. area.
“Our focus on the D.C. market is going to continue,” he said.
Though the purchase will involve the consolidation of some of Commerce and TD’s departments, no jobs in the D.C. area will be affected, Flaherty said. TD Bank spokesman Nicholas Petter referred inquiries to Flaherty, but confirmed the company has no plans for branch closings, and will continue to expand here. Commerce currently has some 20 branches in the metropolitan area, and has at least 10 more openings slated here in 2007 and 2008. Commerce ran into difficulties in June when the company’s founder Vernon Hill resigned over after regulators inquiried about contracts that companies owned by Hill and his relatives had with Commerce.
Some Commerce investors were troubled by news of the sale.
“The clients that I’m speaking to think you’re giving away the franchise,” Gary Townsend, a banking analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, told Commerce officials in a conference call.
The purchase will double TD’s U.S. business, adding 460 banks and $48 billion in assets across nine states.
Bloomberg News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
