F.N.B. Expands With $393M Omega Buy

HERMITAGE, PA-F.N.B. Corp. has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire State College-based Omega Financial Corp. in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $393 million. The acquisition will create the fifth largest bank holding company in Pennsylvania.

In addition, it adds Omega’s 64 branches to locally based F.N.B.’s current total of 154 locations. [F.N.B. is unrelated to the Christiansburg, VA-based FNB Corp.] During a Nov. 9 conference call, Stephen Gurgovits, president and CEO, said, “the addition of Omega’s franchise moves us into several attractive areas in the central part of Pennsylvania in which we currently have no presence and fills in our existing network.

“The Omega retail branches fit nicely in between the Pittsburgh and Harrisburg regions of our existing footprint,” he added. He does not anticipate closing any Omega units. F.N.B. expects to achieve approximately 30% cost savings of Omega’s cash non-interest expense by reducing administrative and operational redundancies.