Company: FITBI
Filing Date: 2025-11-05
Form Type: S-4
Source: 0001193125-25-267273
Chunk: 107

Company: FIFTH THIRD BANCORP
Filing Date: 2025-11-05
Form: S-4
Chunk 107
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 Timothy N. Spence, Chairman, Chief
Executive Officer and President of Fifth Third, have known each other for several years and have periodically discussed trends in the financial services industry and their respective companies. These prior discussions did not involve the possibility
of Fifth Third acquiring or combining with Comerica.

Comerica’s discussions became more focused following the period in 2023 when a
number of regional banks experienced liquidity issues. Comerica’s senior management and board of directors considered and reviewed the resulting impact of these issues on Comerica’s business as well as the businesses of similarly
situated regional banks, including the impact on various financial metrics. As part of this review, Comerica’s senior management and board of directors considered a variety of strategic matters, including maintaining an awareness of the
various strategic alternatives potentially available to Comerica, which included a merger, acquisition, sale, merger of equals or maintaining the status quo and held various exploratory conversations. Throughout 2024 and 2025, as part of this review
and in light of these considerations, Comerica’s board of directors remained apprised of the regional bank M&A environment and potential counterparties to a strategic transaction.

In the Summer of 2025, Comerica’s board of directors held formal and informal meetings in which it reviewed Comerica’s financial
performance and discussed various strategic alternatives available to Comerica with Comerica’s senior management. These meetings included discussion of the benefits of scale and diversification in the current and prospective environment in
which Comerica operates, including in addressing economic conditions, the interest rate environment, the accelerating pace of technological change in the banking industry, increased operating costs resulting from regulatory and compliance mandates,
the competitive environment for financial institutions generally and the challenges facing Comerica as an independent institution. Based on these discussions, Comerica’s board of directors authorized Comerica’s senior management to begin
to explore the potential for a business combination transaction with another financial institution and to solicit and engage in discussions with counterparties that might be interested in pursuing a potential strategic transaction.

Thereafter, Comerica’s senior management and representatives of J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, financial advisor to Comerica, which we
refer to as J.P. Morgan, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, legal advisor to Comerica, which we refer to as Wachtell Lipton, regularly met with the Comerica board of directors and engaged in discussions regarding