Mergers of equals have suddenly become a lot more popular in the banking space, likely as an answer to several trends in the industry including significant growth headwinds in 2020 and meaningful economies of scale, particularly with respect to future IT spending and branch network costs. The latest announcement, the tie-up between Independent Bank Group (IBTX) and Texas Capital Bancshares (TCBI), is a curious one in many respects, but also one that makes quite a bit of sense. Given the significant EPS accretion potential on relatively modest cost savings assumptions and