M&A Update: Pennsylvania Banks Plot $1.6B Merger

Two Pennsylvania banks have announced plans to merge, creating a $1.6 billion organization in a deal worth an estimated $65.6 million.

CCFNB Bancorp, parent company of First Columbia Bank & Trust, and Muncy Bank Financial, which owns The Muncy Bank & Trust Company, plan to operate under the brand Muncy Columbia Bank.

In a statement, the banks said the combined company would have approximately $1.6 billion in total assets, $1.2 billion in total deposits, and a loan book worth $1 billion.

Bank leaders have been discussing the combination for 18 months, and the transaction is expected to complete by the end of this year subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Lance Diehl, currently CCFNB’s president and CEO, will take over as chairman, president and CEO of the combined company. Muncy’s chairman, president and CEO Robert Glunk will become chief operating officer.

Edwin Wenner, chairman of both CCFNB and First Columbia Bank, who will continue to serve as a director after the transaction, said: “This merger reinforces the strong foundation upon which both banks have been built.”

“With a larger geographic footprint and economies of scale, this merger opens up new opportunities for investment, growth, and increased shareholder value.”

Glunk said the combined bank would be “stronger and better positioned to compete”, offering customers the benefits of a community bank while giving access to a wider product range and “the scale to create added value”.

Meanwhile, TD Bank’s planned $13.4 billion acquisition of First Horizon — first announced in February last year — may be subject to further delays, according to quarterly earnings updates from both banks.

The banks are still awaiting regulatory sign off for the combination and this is not expected to happen before May 27, the extended deadline for the merger.

In TD Bank’s first quarter update, president and CEO Bharat Masrani said the Canadian bank was “fully committed to the transaction” and talking to First Horizon about a further extension. However, First Horizon in its own quarterly update said TD “cannot provide a new projected closing date”.

Elsewhere, Colorado-based National Bank Holdings Corporation — parent to NBH Bank — has acquired a deposit acquisition and processing platform from StoneCastle Partners.

The platform, called StoneCastle Digital Solutions but trading as Cambr, currently administers roughly $1.7 billion of deposits. National Bank president and CEO Tim Laney said the acquisition would allow the bank to “significantly grow our core deposits with very little incremental overhead”.

Separately, in Florida, VyStar Credit Union plans to merge with 121 Financial Credit Union, creating a credit union with more than 920,000 members and combined assets of over $14 billion.