TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) July 12, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said that the ratings on The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank; A+/Stable/A-1) would not be affected by TD Banknorth Inc.'s (BBB/Stable/--) announced plans to acquire Hudson United Bancorp (BBB-/Stable/--). The transaction is consistent with TD Bank's strategy to use Banknorth as its principal vehicle for retail and commercial banking expansion in the U.S. Given the leverage and high premium that is being paid, however, TD Bank will be more limited in future to support acquisitions the size of Hudson United. Although the acquisition will expand Banknorth's reach, it represents considerable integration risk due to the transaction's size and complexity. Furthermore, the acquisition represents little branch overlap, and thus, we
