“This is a transformational deal for us and their shareholders,” said Steve Steinour, Huntington’s chairman, president and CEO. “It give us a lot of additional scale.”
FirstMerit shareholders will receive 1.72 shares of Huntington common stock plus $5 in cash for each share of FirstMerit common stock they own. The acquisition is expected to close this summer, and Huntington said the deal is expected to add to its bottom line in 2017, excluding one-time merger costs.
“Joining forces with Huntington will give us an opportunity to combine both companies’ commercial, small-business, wealth and consumer expertise while giving all of our customers greater access to services. We will also leverage our strong credit culture and continue our mutual tradition of community involvement to help our Midwest markets grow,” said Paul Greig, FirstMerit’s chairman, president and CEO in a release.
Steinour told the Columbus Dispatch the banks will have to sell some of their combined operations to satisfy regulatory concerns. Also, Huntington figures to close some offices of the combined bank that are close to other offices.
Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank was unseated as the largest bank by deposits held in the state in 2015, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank has the largest market share of 14.9 percent until the Huntington merger is completed. Customer deposits reached $44.6 billion at U.S. Bank. Deposits held at Fifth Third in Ohio were $43.2 billion, representing about 14.5 percent of the market, according to the FDIC.
Deposits at Ohio banks grew from $271.5 billion in 2014 to nearly $300 billion in 2015, also according to the federal records.
Fifth Third remains the largest bank in the Dayton metropolitan area, and is now second in the Cincinnati area.
Columbus-based Huntington Bancshares, PNC Bank and JPMorgan Chase & Co. round out the top five largest banks doing business in the state of Ohio in 2015. Another Ohio-based regional bank, Cleveland’s KeyCorp, ranks sixth, according to the FDIC.