Farmers National in Ohio will enter Pennsylvania with $105 million deal

Farmers National Banc Corp. in Canfield, Ohio, has agreed to buy Emclaire Financial in neighboring western Pennsylvania for $105 million — its first move across state lines.

Kevin Helmick, president and CEO of the $4.1 billion-asset Farmers National, the parent company of The Farmers National Bank of Canfield, said the acquisition would be the company’s largest to date if it’s approved by regulators.

“This latest transaction will mark a significant extension into the Pennsylvania markets, which has been a longtime strategy for Farmers,” Helmick said in a news release Thursday. “The contiguous expansion will also serve as Farmers’ entrance into the attractive Pittsburgh market and allow us to deliver our robust wealth management and mortgage services to the Emlenton footprint.”

The cash-and-stock deal is set to close in the second half of 2022. The $1.1 billion-asset Emclaire's banking unit, Farmers National Bank of Emlenton, would be merged into Farmers National Bank of Canfield.

William Marsh, chairman and CEO of Emlenton, Pennsylvania-based Emclaire, would join Farmers as senior vice president and as market president in Pennsylvania.

Farmers also said it would name one Emclaire director to join its board and appoint the remaining nonemployee directors of Emclaire to a newly formed advisory board for the Pennsylvania region.

“We are excited about the new products and services that will be available to our customers and the communities we serve,” Marsh said in the release. “I believe that this partnership will provide great value for the entire Emclaire family.”

Farmers estimates it would have $5.2 billion of assets and 66 branches throughout Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

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