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Hudson City Savings to be taken over by Buffalo bank

Hudson City Savings, a New Jersey-based bank that completed a major expansion to the East End in the first half of the last decade, is to be acquired by M&T Bank of Buffalo in a $3.7 billion deal, according to an article posted Monday on the Crain’s New York Business website.

If the deal wins regulatory approvals and closes later this year as expected, Hudson City’s tenure as an independent company would end after 144 years. Hudson City, which reports $45 billion in assets and 135 branches, would become part of M&T and, according to Crain’s, triple that bank’s share of the New York-area market. M&T currently operates 725 branches.

Led by CEO Ronald Hermance, who in the late 1980s served as chief financial officer for the former Southold Savings Bank, Hudson City expanded to Long Island close to a decade ago. The bank opened branches in Riverhead, Southold and Greenport. A dispute with the developer of a Main Road, Mattituck branch has left the unfinished building vacant for several years.

The deal may have a familiar ring for Mr. Hermance, who has a vacation home in Southold. He left the North Fork after Southold Savings was taken over by North Fork Bank and Trust, now part of Capital One Bank.