By Betty Lin-Fisher Beacon Journal business writer Published: March 10, 2016 - 12:07 PM | Updated: March 11, 2016 - 12:15 PM Huntington Bank will close 107 Huntington and FirstMerit branches in five states — 20 in the Akron area alone — as part of its proposed merger. After the closures, there will be about 1,000 branches in the bank network, said Huntington spokesman Brent Wilder. The branch closures would likely not happen until the new year, a bank official said, as the merger still has to be approved and is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. Columbus- based Huntington is acquiring Akron- based FirstMerit in a deal worth $3.4 billion in stock and cash. The branch closures include both Huntington and FirstMerit branches. In the five-county Akron area, the bank is proposing to close 14 Huntington branches and six FirstMerit branches. In total, 77 FirstMerit locations and 30 Huntington branches in the eight-state region will be closing in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The bank filed its official merger applications Thursday with the Federal Reserve Bank and the Office of Comptroller of the Currency. Huntington Bank ran a legal notice in Thursday’s Akron Beacon Journal classified section, listing the branch closures and consolidations. The applications are not immediately available to the public. Officials with both agencies said it could take several days to a week for their employees to go through the applications and redact any confidential information. Wilder said the bank was unable to provide a copy of the filings. Several factors were used to decide the closures, including proximity to the nearest branch, customer service and customer impact, Wilder said. Wilder said he didn’t think the age of the branch was a primary factor. In fact, one branch closure — the Huntington branch in Cuyahoga Falls at 2875 State Road — was just built and opened in December 2014. It is directly across the street from a FirstMerit branch, which will remain open. The downtown Akron Huntington branch at the corner of Market and Main streets is among those being closed. Also closing is a Huntington branch in Montrose attached to a Malley’s Chocolates. Other area closures include branches in Brunswick, Canal Fulton, Canton, Cuyahoga Falls, Hartville, Hudson, Kent, Massillon, Macedonia, Medina, North Canton, Rittman, Stow, Streetsboro, Twinsburg and Wooster. Wilder said no Huntington branches within Giant Eagle stores were among those being closed. Customers had mixed reactions to the news. “I think this is crazy,” Christina Noesner Lowman wrote in a post on Facebook, saying she thought FirstMerit was closing and Huntington was taking over. “Why would they close a brand new bank [in Cuyahoga Falls] and use an old bank?” To which, Jackie Rasile replied: “Exactly! I’ve recently changed banks to Huntington because that [Cuyahoga Falls] branch is very close to my work.” Bank officials have said customers will have a “vast grace period,” possibly for years, when account numbers — both new and old — for both banks will be linked and accepted. There is also some potential confusion about the downtown headquarters based on the wording in the legal notice. The notice mentions “the main office of FirstMerit located at 106 South Main St., Akron, OH, 44308, would become a branch location of the surviving bank.” Wilder said the notice was required to indicate the main headquarters of the combined institution will be in Columbus and not Akron. In an interview several weeks ago, Huntington Chairman, President and Chief Executive Steve Steinour said Akron would have its own regional headquarters downtown after the deal. Wilder said it’s too early to give details about where affected branch employees will be placed. “We’re committing to retain the employees,” Wilder said. Steinour has publicly stated all branch employees will have a job, though details have not been available. Wilder said it is “likely there will be a lot of the same faces within the same general communities, but it wouldn’t be possible right now to say exactly where everyone will be working a year from now.” When asked whether affected employees could be offered new jobs too far from their current branches to easily commute, Wilder said: “We are going to retain such a strong branch network in the broad Akron area that there are going to be very generous opportunities within our robust branch network.” About 1,000 branches will remain open in the eight-state footprint of the new Huntington Bank. Both banks lease and own their buildings, he said. Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or [email protected]. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty Click here to read or leave a comment(s) on this story. MORE > 12 % ZINSEN MÖGLICH Sicherheit & geringes Anlagerisiko. Professionelle Vermögensverwaltung! Akron Beacon Journal • Thursday, March 17, 2016 ☰ ☰ Menu Menu Akron weather by 46° Ohio.com Ohio.com Business Business FirstMerit/Huntington bank merger Huntington Bank will close 107 Huntington and FirstMerit branches, 20 in the Akron area, as part of proposed merger 67 Shares ! " # $ % & 0 Comment(s) ' 1 / 3 1 / 3 BACK NEXT RELATED STORIES RELATED STORIES Huntington proposes selling off some FirstMerit Huntington proposes selling off some FirstMerit Huntington proposes selling off some FirstMerit Canton-area branches to meet regulatory Canton-area branches to meet regulatory Canton-area branches to meet regulatory approval approval approval List of Akron-area FirstMerit, Huntington List of Akron-area FirstMerit, Huntington List of Akron-area FirstMerit, Huntington branches closing as part of acquisition deal branches closing as part of acquisition deal branches closing as part of acquisition deal Akron can’t confirm FirstMerit fulfilled job Akron can’t confirm FirstMerit fulfilled job Akron can’t confirm FirstMerit fulfilled job promise, but has no reason to doubt, city official promise, but has no reason to doubt, city official promise, but has no reason to doubt, city official says says says FirstMerit leaders tried to take care of Akron in FirstMerit leaders tried to take care of Akron in FirstMerit leaders tried to take care of Akron in Huntington deal, insider says Huntington deal, insider says Huntington deal, insider says FirstMerit sale to Huntington, a big payday to FirstMerit sale to Huntington, a big payday to FirstMerit sale to Huntington, a big payday to shareholders, may pay off big for executives, shareholders, may pay off big for executives, shareholders, may pay off big for executives, too too too Wave of change for Akron fixtures brings city’s Wave of change for Akron fixtures brings city’s Wave of change for Akron fixtures brings city’s identity to crossroads identity to crossroads identity to crossroads FirstMerit’s 26 percent stock hike boosts FirstMerit’s 26 percent stock hike boosts FirstMerit’s 26 percent stock hike boosts executive, director and institution holdings executive, director and institution holdings executive, director and institution holdings FirstMerit says it honored pledge of 150 new FirstMerit says it honored pledge of 150 new FirstMerit says it honored pledge of 150 new jobs for plaza upgrade; city cannot confirm info jobs for plaza upgrade; city cannot confirm info jobs for plaza upgrade; city cannot confirm info Akron business owners see no need to panic Akron business owners see no need to panic Akron business owners see no need to panic over proposed FirstMerit-Huntington deal over proposed FirstMerit-Huntington deal over proposed FirstMerit-Huntington deal Law firms seeking FirstMerit shareholders to Law firms seeking FirstMerit shareholders to Law firms seeking FirstMerit shareholders to block Huntington deal; professor says it’s block Huntington deal; professor says it’s block Huntington deal; professor says it’s normal normal normal While surprising to some, FirstMerit buyout is While surprising to some, FirstMerit buyout is While surprising to some, FirstMerit buyout is part of larger trend part of larger trend part of larger trend Huntington to acquire Akron-based FirstMerit Huntington to acquire Akron-based FirstMerit Huntington to acquire Akron-based FirstMerit More questions on proposed Huntington- More questions on proposed Huntington- More questions on proposed Huntington- FirstMerit deal: free checks, branches, pension FirstMerit deal: free checks, branches, pension FirstMerit deal: free checks, branches, pension plan, savings rate plan, savings rate plan, savings rate No immediate word on Huntington-FirstMerit No immediate word on Huntington-FirstMerit No immediate word on Huntington-FirstMerit layoffs or branch closures layoffs or branch closures layoffs or branch closures Huntington says it wants to grow employment Huntington says it wants to grow employment Huntington says it wants to grow employment in Akron after FirstMerit purchase in Akron after FirstMerit purchase in Akron after FirstMerit purchase List of Akron-area FirstMerit, Huntington List of Akron-area FirstMerit, Huntington List of Akron-area FirstMerit, Huntington branches closing as part of acquisition deal branches closing as part of acquisition deal branches closing as part of acquisition deal Huntington proposes selling off some FirstMerit Canton-area branches to meet regulatory approval - 7:23 AM Dominion seeking increase from residential customers that could double costs to replace aging pipelines; 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By Betty Lin-Fisher Beacon Journal business writer
Published: March 10, 2016 - 12:07 PM | Updated: March 11, 2016 - 12:15 PM
Huntington Bank will close 107Huntington and FirstMerit branches in fivestates — 20 in the Akron area alone — aspart of its proposed merger.
After the closures, there will be about1,000 branches in the bank network, saidHuntington spokesman Brent Wilder.
The branch closures would likely nothappen until the new year, a bank officialsaid, as the merger still has to beapproved and is expected to close in thethird quarter of this year. Columbus-based Huntington is acquiring Akron-based FirstMerit in a deal worth $3.4billion in stock and cash.
The branch closures include bothHuntington and FirstMerit branches. Inthe five-county Akron area, the bank isproposing to close 14 Huntingtonbranches and six FirstMerit branches. Intotal, 77 FirstMerit locations and 30Huntington branches in the eight-stateregion will be closing in Ohio, Michigan,Illinois, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
The bank filed its official mergerapplications Thursday with the FederalReserve Bank and the Office ofComptroller of the Currency.
Huntington Bank ran a legal notice inThursday’s Akron Beacon Journal
classified section, listing the branchclosures and consolidations.
The applications are not immediatelyavailable to the public. Officials with bothagencies said it could take several days toa week for their employees to go throughthe applications and redact anyconfidential information. Wilder said thebank was unable to provide a copy of thefilings.
Several factors were used to decide theclosures, including proximity to the nearest
branch, customer service and customer impact, Wilder said.
Wilder said he didn’t think the age of the branch was a primary factor.
In fact, one branch closure — the Huntington branch in Cuyahoga Falls at 2875State Road — was just built and opened in December 2014. It is directly acrossthe street from a FirstMerit branch, which will remain open.
The downtown Akron Huntington branch at the corner of Market and Mainstreets is among those being closed. Also closing is a Huntington branch inMontrose attached to a Malley’s Chocolates.
Other area closures include branches in Brunswick, Canal Fulton, Canton,Cuyahoga Falls, Hartville, Hudson, Kent, Massillon, Macedonia, Medina, NorthCanton, Rittman, Stow, Streetsboro, Twinsburg and Wooster.
Wilder said no Huntington branches within Giant Eagle stores were among thosebeing closed.
Customers had mixed reactions to the news.
“I think this is crazy,” Christina Noesner Lowman wrote in a post on Facebook,saying she thought FirstMerit was closing and Huntington was taking over. “Whywould they close a brand new bank [in Cuyahoga Falls] and use an old bank?”
To which, Jackie Rasile replied: “Exactly! I’ve recently changed banks toHuntington because that [Cuyahoga Falls] branch is very close to my work.”
Bank officials have said customers will have a “vast grace period,” possibly foryears, when account numbers — both new and old — for both banks will belinked and accepted.
There is also some potential confusion about the downtown headquarters basedon the wording in the legal notice.
The notice mentions “the main office of FirstMerit located at 106 South Main St.,Akron, OH, 44308, would become a branch location of the surviving bank.”
Wilder said the notice was required to indicate the main headquarters of thecombined institution will be in Columbus and not Akron.
In an interview several weeks ago, Huntington Chairman, President and ChiefExecutive Steve Steinour said Akron would have its own regional headquartersdowntown after the deal.
Wilder said it’s too early to give details about where affected branch employeeswill be placed.
“We’re committing to retain the employees,” Wilder said.
Steinour has publicly stated all branch employees will have a job, though detailshave not been available.
Wilder said it is “likely there will be a lot of the same faces within the samegeneral communities, but it wouldn’t be possible right now to say exactly whereeveryone will be working a year from now.”
When asked whether affected employees could be offered new jobs too far fromtheir current branches to easily commute, Wilder said: “We are going to retainsuch a strong branch network in the broad Akron area that there are going to bevery generous opportunities within our robust branch network.”
About 1,000 branches will remain open in the eight-state footprint of the newHuntington Bank.
Both banks lease and own their buildings, he said.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 [email protected]. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter orwww.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories atwww.ohio.com/betty
Click here to read or leave a comment(s) on this story.
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Akron Beacon Journal • Thursday, March 17, 2016
☰☰ Menu Menu Akronweather by46°
Ohio.comOhio.com BusinessBusiness
FirstMerit/Huntington bank merger
Huntington Bank will close 107 Huntington and FirstMerit branches,20 in the Akron area, as part of proposed merger
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Huntington proposes selling off some FirstMerit
Huntington proposes selling off some FirstMerit
Huntington proposes selling off some FirstMeritHuntington proposes selling off some FirstMeritCanton-area branches to meet regulatory
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Canton-area branches to meet regulatoryCanton-area branches to meet regulatoryapproval
approval
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List of Akron-area FirstMerit, Huntington
List of Akron-area FirstMerit, Huntington
List of Akron-area FirstMerit, HuntingtonList of Akron-area FirstMerit, Huntingtonbranches closing as part of acquisition deal
branches closing as part of acquisition deal
branches closing as part of acquisition dealbranches closing as part of acquisition deal
Akron can’t confirm FirstMerit fulfilled job
Akron can’t confirm FirstMerit fulfilled job
Akron can’t confirm FirstMerit fulfilled jobAkron can’t confirm FirstMerit fulfilled jobpromise, but has no reason to doubt, city official
promise, but has no reason to doubt, city official
promise, but has no reason to doubt, city officialpromise, but has no reason to doubt, city officialsays
says
sayssays
FirstMerit leaders tried to take care of Akron in
FirstMerit leaders tried to take care of Akron in
FirstMerit leaders tried to take care of Akron inFirstMerit leaders tried to take care of Akron inHuntington deal, insider says
Huntington deal, insider says
Huntington deal, insider saysHuntington deal, insider says
FirstMerit sale to Huntington, a big payday to
FirstMerit sale to Huntington, a big payday to
FirstMerit sale to Huntington, a big payday toFirstMerit sale to Huntington, a big payday toshareholders, may pay off big for executives,
shareholders, may pay off big for executives,
shareholders, may pay off big for executives,shareholders, may pay off big for executives,too
too
tootoo
Wave of change for Akron fixtures brings city’s
Wave of change for Akron fixtures brings city’s
Wave of change for Akron fixtures brings city’sWave of change for Akron fixtures brings city’sidentity to crossroads
identity to crossroads
identity to crossroadsidentity to crossroads
FirstMerit’s 26 percent stock hike boosts
FirstMerit’s 26 percent stock hike boosts
FirstMerit’s 26 percent stock hike boostsFirstMerit’s 26 percent stock hike boostsexecutive, director and institution holdings
executive, director and institution holdings
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FirstMerit says it honored pledge of 150 new
FirstMerit says it honored pledge of 150 new
FirstMerit says it honored pledge of 150 newFirstMerit says it honored pledge of 150 newjobs for plaza upgrade; city cannot confirm info
jobs for plaza upgrade; city cannot confirm info
jobs for plaza upgrade; city cannot confirm infojobs for plaza upgrade; city cannot confirm info
Akron business owners see no need to panic
Akron business owners see no need to panic
Akron business owners see no need to panicAkron business owners see no need to panicover proposed FirstMerit-Huntington deal
over proposed FirstMerit-Huntington deal
over proposed FirstMerit-Huntington dealover proposed FirstMerit-Huntington deal
Law firms seeking FirstMerit shareholders to
Law firms seeking FirstMerit shareholders to
Law firms seeking FirstMerit shareholders toLaw firms seeking FirstMerit shareholders toblock Huntington deal; professor says it’s
block Huntington deal; professor says it’s
block Huntington deal; professor says it’sblock Huntington deal; professor says it’snormal
normal
normalnormal
While surprising to some, FirstMerit buyout is
While surprising to some, FirstMerit buyout is
While surprising to some, FirstMerit buyout isWhile surprising to some, FirstMerit buyout ispart of larger trend
part of larger trend
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Huntington to acquire Akron-based FirstMerit
Huntington to acquire Akron-based FirstMerit
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More questions on proposed Huntington-
More questions on proposed Huntington-
More questions on proposed Huntington-More questions on proposed Huntington-FirstMerit deal: free checks, branches, pension
FirstMerit deal: free checks, branches, pension
FirstMerit deal: free checks, branches, pensionFirstMerit deal: free checks, branches, pensionplan, savings rate
plan, savings rate
plan, savings rateplan, savings rate
No immediate word on Huntington-FirstMerit
No immediate word on Huntington-FirstMerit
No immediate word on Huntington-FirstMeritNo immediate word on Huntington-FirstMeritlayoffs or branch closures
layoffs or branch closures
layoffs or branch closureslayoffs or branch closures
Huntington says it wants to grow employment
Huntington says it wants to grow employment
Huntington says it wants to grow employmentHuntington says it wants to grow employmentin Akron after FirstMerit purchase
in Akron after FirstMerit purchase
in Akron after FirstMerit purchasein Akron after FirstMerit purchase
List of Akron-area FirstMerit, Huntington
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Dominion seeking increase from residential customers that could double costs toreplace aging pipelines; consumer agency says that’s unfair
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