First Commonwealth Financial Corp. in Indiana, Pennsylvania, agreed to acquire Centric Financial Corp. in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The $144 million, all-stock deal that would create a bank with $10.6 billion of assets. It was announced Tuesday and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023.
By acquiring the $1 billion-asset Centric, First Commonwealth would gain seven branches across the Philadelphia and Harrisburg metropolitan areas. Centric has $900 million of deposits and $900 million of loans.
Centric Bank, a unit of Centric Financial, will merge into First Commonwealth Bank, a subsidiary of First Commonwealth, as part of the combination of the holding companies.
The deal builds upon First Commonwealth's
"This extension of our physical presence into Harrisburg and metro Philadelphia allows us to deepen our existing relationships in these markets and improve the financial lives of these businesses and their communities," Mike Price, president and CEO of First Commonwealth, said in a press release issued after markets closed Tuesday.
First Commonwealth projected the transaction would be about 5% accretive to its earnings in 2023 and 7% accretive to earnings in 2024. The buyer estimated it would earn back tangible book value dilution of 3% in about two years.
Upon the deal closing, First Commonwealth said it would appoint Patricia Husic, president and CEO of Centric Financial, to its board of directors.
"This strategic partnership will provide our customers and communities with greater access to additional products and services that we believe will result in an enhanced customer experience for our commercial base and the opportunity to augment the retail portion of our business with their product set and consumer verticals," Husic said in the release.
