DeWITT, N.Y. — Community Bank, N.A., a subsidiary of Community Financial System, Inc., (NYSE: CBU) announced it will acquire seven branches of Santander Bank, N.A. in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The deal also includes certain branch-related loans and deposits, and Community Bank will purchase related wealth-management relationships. Community Bank expects to assume about $600 million in deposits […]
DeWITT, N.Y. — Community Bank, N.A., a subsidiary of Community Financial System, Inc., (NYSE: CBU) announced it will acquire seven branches of Santander Bank, N.A. in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The deal also includes certain branch-related loans and deposits, and Community Bank will purchase related wealth-management relationships.
Community Bank expects to assume about $600 million in deposits and purchase about $33 million in branch-related loans and will pay a deposit premium of 8 percent, or about $48 million, in estimated cash consideration to Santander Bank for the branch assets and liabilities. Community Financial System expects the transaction to slightly add to its earnings.
Community Bank expects to close on the transaction during the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approval. It will keep all branches open and offer all employees continued employment.
The deal expands Community Bank’s organic expansion in the Greater Lehigh Valley and complements its existing commercial and consumer-lending presence in the market, according to the deal announcement.
The acquisitions, along with Community Bank’s existing branches in the market and pending new branches, bring its total retail locations in the Greater Lehigh Valley to 12. This puts Community Bank in a top-five market position.
Lazard Frères & Co. served as Community Financial’s financial advisor, and Luse Gorman, PC was its legal advisor. Ambassador Financial Group also assisted Community Financial in this Lehigh Valley expansion.
Community Financial System, with more than $16 billion in total assets, operates about 200 branches across New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Massachusetts. The financial-services firm also operates Benefit Plans Administrative Services, Inc., an employee-benefits administration, trust services, collective investment-fund administration, and actuarial-consulting firm; and OneGroup NY, Inc., an insurance agency. The company also offers wealth-management services through its Nottingham Financial Group operating unit.
