How a Virginia Bank's First-Ever Deal Hit a Wall

Burke & Herbert's initial pitch to buy Summit Financial was rejected and, at one point, talks were put on hold for nearly a year.

Hey there, Bank Slaters!

Here’s an interesting S-4 filing looking at Burke & Herbert Financial Services’ talks with Summit Financial Group. This would be B&H’s first bank acquisition, and while it was cast as a MOE, the initial offer didn’t look that way. As a result, Summit firmly pushed back. A second effort to work something out led to an impasse that put talks on hold for months. They revisited talks this year and worked something out.

It is critical to understand what’s important to a target and if deal breakers exist. Learning what those are early on could save a lot of time over the course of courtship.

Here’s a look at a negotiation process that took nearly two years to complete.