Interim People’s United Bank CEO John “Jack” Barnes is the likely frontrunner to take over the position on a permanent basis, an analyst said Wednesday.
Mark Fitzgibbon, an analyst for the financial advisory firm Sandler O’Neill & Partners, wrote in a note to investors that recent acquisitions made by People’s Bank, coupled with smart capital deployment activities “should go a long way in endearing [Barnes] to the Board of Directors and shareholders.”
Fitzgibbon noted People’s will likely name its new chief executive during the last week of July or first week of August and that “Barnes was eager to prove himself and was likely to move fast to begin deploying capital to improve his chances of becoming the permanent CEO when the board announces its choice.”
People’s announced last week the acquisition of two separate banks in New York and Massachusetts, which will add nearly $3 billion in assets to the company.
The lenders People’s acquired are Bank of Smithtown, a subsidiary of Smithtown Bancorp, based in Hauppauge, N.Y. and RiverBank, a subsidiary of LSB Corp. based in North Andover, Mass.
Smithtown has $2.43 billion in assets, total deposits of $1.87 billion, and 30 branches, 29 of which are on Long Island and one in New York City.
LSB has $807 million in assets, total deposits of $504 million and seven branches, five of which are in the greater Boston area, and two in southern New Hampshire.
People’s has been under pressure from shareholders to make acquisitions, amid billions of dollars of cash it has been holding onto.
In April, the company pushed out its former CEO Philip R. Sherringham for moving too slowly to build up the lender through acquisitions.
Fitzgibbon said both recent  acquisitions “are financially attractive,” and “nicely complement the People’s franchise.“
“The LSB deal adds mass to its footprint in the area North of Boston and Southern New Hampshire,” he said. “The Smithtown deal provides the company with an entree into the densely populated markets of Long Island and New York City, which modestly extends its franchise.”
