NewAlliance Bank CEO Peyton R. Patterson will leave the company next spring when the New Haven-based bank completes its merger with First Niagara Financial Group.
Patterson, who has been with NewAlliance since 2002 and has played a key role in creating the fourth largest bank in New England, will continue to lead the company through the transition process, until the merger is finalized next April.
She did not specific details about her plans for the future beyond saying that her decision was purely personal.
Patterson is expected to receive a multimillion pay package when she leaves the bank, possibly as much as $24 million, the New York Times reported.
That would make Peyton R. Patterson, the highest paid woman in finance and among the highest paid bankers in the entire U.S.
“I couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished at NewAlliance, and the strength of the organization as it moves forward in the next chapter of its history,” Patterson said in prepared remarks.
In August, First Niagara agreed to pay $1.5 billion in cash and stock to buy NewAlliance, creating a banking behemoth with more than $29 billion in assets. As part of the deal, NewAlliance’s 88 branches, including one recently opened in downtown Hartford, are expected to be converted and rebranded as First Niagara locations.
The boards of both banks approved the merger on Aug. 18.
Patterson led the NewAlliance’s $1 billion IPO in 2004, and made a series of acquisitions that quadrupled the size of the bank over six years. Additionally, she oversaw the creation and funding of the NewAlliance Foundation, which has become one of the major philanthropic organizations in the region.
Â
