This Day in Financial History

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1998 - Merger mania swept through the financial services industry on this busy day in 1998. The wheeling and dealing kicked off just minutes after noon, as Republic Security Financial Corp. inked an agreement to acquire First Palm Beach Bancorp Inc. The merger, which was consummated with a $279.3 million stock swap, positioned the West Palm Beach-based Republic Corp. as the prime independent banking player in Florida. Things quieted down for a few short hours after the Republic-First Palm deal, but, later in the afternoon, the action picked up again, as another pair of banks signed off on an even more lucrative merger. First Hawaiian Inc. and BancWest Corp. joined forces to create a $14 billion banking behemoth based in the western United States. The merger, which cost around $1 billion, gave First Hawaiian's stockholders a small majority stake in the new institution.