HSBC Bank Branches to Be Acquired by First Niagra National

HSBC’s Monroe branch is among 195 that the bank plans to sell to First Niagara.

The Monroe location, at 155 Main St., is among six in Fairfield County proposed for sale. The other Connecticut branches are in Ridgefield, Fairfield, Shelton and Wilton.

The rest of the bank branches are in New York State.

In a conference call Monday with reporters, First Niagara CEO John Koelmel called the Hudson Valley market expansion "a real sold base and foundation."

The deal was announced Sunday afternoon by HSBC, and is being done to scale back its retail banking operations and shift its priorities, according to its announcements of the transactions. In total, the deal is worth about $1 billion, or a 6.67-percent premium of the deposit value of the branches at stake, as of May 31, the bank announced. The total amount of deposits is about $15 billion, according to HSBC.

While HSBC announced that it expects the deal to close in early 2012, no firm dates for branches to change to First Niagara are set, it explained in a primer. Account holders at affected branches, including savings, checking, online banking and credit cards, will automatically see their services transferred to First Niagara once the transition is made.

Koelmel expects divestitures of some branches for antitrust regulatory reasons, as well as some consolidations.

Regulatory approvals are still needed for the deal, according to HSBC.

To read the full list of stores being sold, click here.