Holding multiple face-to-face meetings with executives from MB Financial helped Fifth Third land the Chicago company for a lower price than another suitor offered.
Nearly a third of the company's revenue will come from noninterest income after it buys SCB, which owns a large insurance and farmland management business.
The high multiple Fifth Third is paying for MB Financial raises questions about whether it can cut enough costs, realize enough growth and win over skeptical investors.
Although there's often a tension between regulation and innovation, the sandbox concept can help startups, regulators and incumbent banks better navigate experimental financial technologies.
