Huntington to Acquire FirstMerit in $3.4 Billion Deal

January 26, 2016

Huntington Bancshares announced it would buy FirstMerit Corporation in a deal worth $3.4 billion in stock and cash.

The merger will create the largest bank in Ohio by deposits. The combined company will have nearly $100 billion in assets and about 1,000 branches in seven states, with a huge concentration in Ohio and Michigan. The merger will move Huntington from the 33rd-largest bank up to the top 20. This is Huntington's first major acquisition since it bought SkyBank in 2007.

Huntington has 12,200 employees, $71 billion in assets and 750 branches in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Huntington said it would expand into Chicago and Wisconsin, where it has not had a presence.

FirstMerit has 4,000 employees, and $25 billion in assets and 367 branches in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Huntington operates a captive title insurance company called HBI Title Services. FirstMerit closed its in-house title operations last year.

In a release, Stephen D. Steinour, Huntington’s chairman, president and chief executive, said “I believe the strength of this deal is that both organizations already understand the needs and goals of our Midwestern customers and communities.”

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016 but will need regulatory and shareholder approval.


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