Peoples Bancorp wraps up $292m acquisition of Premier Financial Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp, an Ohio-based financial services holding company, has wrapped up its previously announced $292.3 million acquisition of Premier Financial Bancorp, a West Virginia-based bank holding company.

The all-stock merger deal was announced in March 2021.

The combined company, which will operate as Peoples Bancorp, has nearly $6.7 billion in total assets, total loans of $4.6 billion, total deposits of $5.5 billion. It has 136 branches across Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Premier Financial Bancorp was the parent company of Premier Bank and Citizens Deposit Bank & Trust, which operate 48 branches in 38 communities spread across five-states and Washington D.C.

As of 31 December 2020, Premier Financial Bancorp had total assets of $1.9 billion, $1.2 billion in total net loans, and total deposits of $1.6 billion.

Premier Bank and Citizens Deposit Bank & Trust have merged into Peoples Bank, the fully-owned subsidiary of Peoples Bancorp.

As per the terms of the deal, Premier Financial Bancorp’s shareholders will exchange each of their shares for 0.58 shares of Peoples Bancorp’s shares.

Chuck Sulerzyski — President and CEO of Peoples Bancorp said: “We are excited to complete this transaction, which expands our presence in Kentucky and West Virginia and gains us an entry into attractive markets within Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

“We are thankful for the hard work and dedication of the employees of Premier and Peoples in completing this transaction.  In the months ahead, we will begin introducing clients in the Premier communities to our expanded array of products and services, including electronic banking services, investments and retirement planning solutions, insurance, and an increased commercial banking capacity.”