ChoiceOne Financial Services Inc., the parent company of ChoiceOne Bank, and County Bank Corp., the parent company of Lakestone Bank & Trust, are merging. The merger will create an approximately $1.3 billion-asset bank holding company with 28 offices in West and Southeastern Michigan, making it the 12th-largest bank holding company in the state based on assets.
It is expected that ChoiceOne will declare and pay a special dividend of $0.60 per share to ChoiceOne shareholders. The transaction is valued at approximately $50.96 per share of County Bank common stock, or approximately $89 million in the aggregate. The transaction is projected to generate approximately 14 percent earnings per share accretion in the first full year.
Here are some other notable details of the deal:
- In addition to approximately $670 million in total assets as of Dec. 31, ChoiceOne has 14 locations and over 120 years of experience serving West Michigan.
- County Bank has 14 locations and over 117 years of experience serving Southeastern Michigan, as well as approximately $617 million in total assets as of Dec. 31, 2018.
- The board of directors of the combined holding company will comprise 14 directors, consisting of seven directors designated by ChoiceOne and seven directors designated by County Bank.
- The transaction was approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close in the second half of 2019. The banks are expected to consolidate in the second quarter of 2020.
