HSBC’s Nanuet Branch Among 195 the Bank Plans to Sell to First Niagara

The HSBC location in Nanuet at 117 E. Route 59 across from Toys R Us is one of nine branches in Rockland County proposed for sale to First Niagara. The other county branches are in Blauvelt, New City, Nyack, Pearl River, Spring Valley, Stony Point, Suffern and Tappan.

Other area locations are to be sold in Orange, Westchester and Putnam counties. Most of the locations up for sale are in upstate New York, according to the list of branches. In a conference call Monday with reporters, First Niagara CEO John Koelmel called the Hudson Valley market expansion "a real solid 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 announcement 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 are set for branches to change to First Niagara, 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 western New York 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 branches being sold, click here.