First Commonwealth Bank will acquire 14 branches from Santander Bank in State College, Lock Haven, Williamsport and Lewisburg. The acquisition helps First Commonwealth expand its Pennsylvania footprint by adding approximately 22,000 retail and small business customers.
The acquisition adds approximately $525 million of deposits and $120 million of retail and business loans.
“The deposits that we are acquiring with these branches provide low-cost, stable funding that will immediately improve our profitability and, more importantly, allow us to continue the steady pace of our loan growth in the face of a competitive deposit market,” First Commonwealth CEO T. Michael Price said in a statement. “This transaction is similar in size and scope to the four low-risk transactions that we have completed in recent years, each of which has exceeded our expectations.”
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019.
The subsidiary of First Commonwealth Financial Corp. operates in 22 counties throughout western and central Pennsylvania and throughout Ohio, as well as corporate banking centers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
