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Fleet in talks with Summit
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September 27, 2000: 11:03 a.m. ET
New England bank eyes Summit Bancorp for Northeast expansion
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NEW YORK CNNfn) - Looking to expand its Northeast footprint, FleetBoston Financial Corp. is in talks to acquire Summit Bancorp for an undisclosed amount, according to a report Wednesday.
FleetBoston (FBF: Research, Estimates), the nation's No. 8 bank which was created by last year's merger of Fleet Financial and BankBoston Corp., dominates New England and is aggressively expanding south into New Jersey, where Princeton, N.J.-based Summit maintains most of its over 500 branches, the Wall Street Journal said.
FleetBoston refused to comment on the report and Summit did not return calls requesting comment.
While terms of a deal - which could fall apart at any time, according to sources -- were not known, Summit has a market capitalization of $5.4 billion and holds $39 billion in assets.
Andy Collins, banking analyst with ING Barings, said anything above $40 per share for Summit would be too high, while anything below $35 would be a great price for FleetBoston. Paying $40 per share would value Summit at about $7 billion, while $35 per share would put the price tag at about $6 billion.
"I think it's a great fit at the right price," Collins said. "At a high price it's a lousy deal, but at a lower price it's a great deal."
Summit has about 500 branches in New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
Collins said acquiring Summit would give FleetBoston better access to the New York metropolitan banking market, provide cost savings and help tap into high net-worth customers.
FleetBoston has about 1,250 branches in the northeast.
Shares of Summit (SUB: Research, Estimates) jumped $3.12 to $33.94 while Fleet shares fell $1.19 to $37.50. 
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FleetBoston
Summit
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