Two central Pennsylvania community banks in the middle of completing a merger agreement have taken a second crack at their new brand.
Under a deal announced in April, CCFNB Bancorp agreed to buy Muncy Bank Financial for $65.6 million in stock. Their combined banking unit was supposed to be named Muncy Columbia Bank. But the merger partners said last week that they'd decided to get more creative and call it Journey Bank.
"We recognized an opportunity to consider a new name and refreshed brand for the combined bank that better represents our purpose," Lance Diehl, CCFNB's president and CEO, said in a June 21 news release.
Rob Glunk, the chairman and CEO of Muncy, added: "For generations, both of our banks have walked alongside customers on their financial journeys. Moving forward, we are fully committed to continuing to be there for our customers and our community, and our new Journey Bank name will reinforce that shared commitment."
The revised name of the holding company would have a touch of history, though — Muncy Columbia Financial Corp. Originally, the CCFNB Bancorp name would have been preserved.
Through May, there were 32 U.S. bank mergers and acquisitions announced, fewer than half of the 66 deals announced over the same span of 2022. But analysts say higher costs and more regulation could spur consolidation.
The deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter. The combined company would have $1.6 billion of assets and $1.2 billion of total deposits.
The $955 million-asset CCFNB, based in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, owns First Columbia Bank & Trust, which has 12 branches as well as 177 employees. The $651 million-asset Muncy Bank Financial, based in a town of the same name, owns The Muncy Bank and Trust Co., which has 10 branches and 127 employees.
As part of the deal, Muncy shareholders would receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.9259 shares of CCFNB for each Muncy share owned, and they would own 42% of the new company. The board would have eight CCFNB representatives and six from Muncy. Both sides have repeatedly described the deal as a "strategic merger of equals."
No layoffs or branch closures are expected, but streamlining would occur through early retirements and severance offers, according to the initial news release in April.
CCFNB's Diehl would be chairman, president and CEO of the holding company and executive chairman of Journey Bank. Muncy's Glunk would be chief operating officer of the holding company and president and CEO of Journey Bank.
