NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - U.S. President Joe Biden has asked competition enforcers to look skeptically at bank combinations , fearing branch closures and other consequences. But Citizens Financial’s (CFG.N) deal to buy Investors Bancorp (ISBC.O) for $3.5 billion, unveiled on Wednesday read more , makes a persuasive case.

On paper, it’s a textbook example. Following Citizens boss Bruce Van Saun’s agreement to purchase East Coast branches from HSBC (HSBA.L) , read more , the latest deal fills in the company’s network rather than overlapping too much. Synergies are projected at a surprisingly standard 30% of the smaller lender’s cost base. A modest premium for Investors’ owners, mostly in stock, means the deal also looks financially promising for the $19 billion Citizens.

Biden’s concerns notwithstanding, America’s largest banks are so big that nearly 5,000 smaller lenders need to merge to compete. Citizens plus Investors would have around $214 billion of assets . While that would make it a top-10 U.S. national bank, on Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data, JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) would both still be more than 10 times larger. (By Richard Beales)

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