Capital One Buys North Fork Bank

March 13, 2006
Capital One• Low limit, high fees• Unauthorized account• Trouble closing account• Payoff plans• Identity theft• Fraudulent transactions• Late posting of payments---News• Capital One Shuts Down Mortgage Unit, Will Cut 1,900 Jobs• Capital One Hikes Interest Rates, Agrees to Disclose Credit Limits• Capital One Blitzes Credit Reports Looking For New Prey• Capital One Harms Credit Scores by Withholding Data, Suits Charge• Capital One Buys North Fork Bank• WV Sues Capital One for "Deceptive and Illegal" Practices• WV Subpoenas Capital One RecordsCapital One Financial Corporation is already a major credit card company. Now it wants to be a major retail bank as well, announcing it will acquire New York's North Fork Bancorporation in a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately $14.6 billion.
The combined company will be one of the 10 largest banks in the United States, based on deposits and managed loans, and the third-largest retail bank in the New York region, the nation's largest deposit market.
"North Fork is a great strategic fit with Capital One and brings balance and diversification to our company," said Richard D. Fairbank, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Capital One.
Capital One already has a small presence in retail banking. Its subsidiary, Hibernia National Bank, operates more than 300 branches in Louisiana and Texas.
North Fork, a bank holding company with operations in the greater New York region, provides a full range of financial products and services to its retail and commercial customers, including deposit products and consumer, business and mortgage loans, along with other services.
With approximately $36.6 billion in deposits, as of December 31, 2005, and 355 branch locations throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, North Fork is the third-largest depository institution in the greater New York region.
The combined company will have deposits of more than $84 billion, a managed loan portfolio of more than $143 billion, more than 50 million customer accounts, and 655 branches.