Huntington Bank is gearing up for a major offensive in Houston’s commercial-banking scene after closing its acquisition of Cadence Bank, setting the stage for a fast build-out of its local presence. The bank is signaling that it wants deeper ties with Houston companies across energy, real estate and middle-market sectors, and both competitors and clients are watching to see how many front-line commercial roles Huntington actually brings to town and where those bankers land.
According to the Houston Business Journal, Huntington currently has roughly 150 commercial bankers in the Houston market. Commercial leadership, including Scott Kleinman, identified in the report as Huntington's senior executive vice president and president of Huntington’s commercial bank, says the plan is to increase that headcount "in a material way." The local coverage notes that the hiring push is aimed squarely at bolstering service for middle‑market and energy clients.
In a press release from Huntington Bancshares, the company said it closed the merger with Cadence on Feb. 2, 2026, creating a combined institution with roughly $279 billion in assets and bringing in Cadence's approximately 390‑branch network. Huntington has told investors it plans to keep Cadence branches open, convert customer accounts to Huntington systems around mid‑2026, and invest across the combined footprint rather than trimming locations.
What it means for Houston businesses
The Cadence deal instantly gives Huntington real scale in Texas and a much stronger foothold in Houston, with clear implications for competition and pricing in commercial lending. National outlets have highlighted the size of the transaction and the pressure it adds on regional banks across the South. The Associated Press reported that the acquisition extends Huntington's reach into high‑growth Texas markets and helps position the bank among the larger deposit holders in the state. For borrowers, more commercial bankers on the ground can translate into faster decisions and a wider menu of products, assuming Huntington follows through on the hiring spree it is advertising.
Hiring, integration and the timeline
Huntington's public materials indicate that customer accounts will shift to its platform in mid‑2026 and that it intends to keep Cadence teams in place during the integration. That approach suggests Huntington will look to retain and add commercial lenders locally as the combined portfolios settle in. Holding onto branch capacity while layering on additional relationship bankers is the opposite of a quick footprint pullback and points to a strategy built around expanding local client coverage rather than shrinking it. The bank has not yet disclosed how many new hires it will make or which Houston submarkets it plans to prioritize.
For Houston bankers and borrowers, the real measure will be whether all this talk of added coverage turns into quicker responses, sharper terms and tangible wins for local companies. Expect a flurry of recruiting across commercial‑lending teams and close scrutiny from Houston businesses as systems are converted and the Cadence franchise is fully folded into the Huntington brand in the months ahead.
