Ronald J. Seiffert, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Northwest Bancshares

WARREN, PA—Northwest Bancshares, the holding company for Northwest Bank, has successfully completed its merger with Donegal Financial Services Corporation, the holding company for Union Community Bank, expanding its branch footprint by a dozen offices in Lancaster County.

“The management teams and employees of Northwest, DFSC and UCB have worked tirelessly over the last several months to prepare for the integration of our companies,” says Ronald J. Seiffert, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Northwest Bancshares. “We believe that this transaction will help deliver value through increased operating scale in one of the most rapidly growing counties in our footprint.  The combined strength of our institutions will allow us to better serve customers across all of our markets with a wide range of financial products and services, while maintaining the personal service they expect from their community bank.”

Under the terms of the merger agreement, the two shareholders, Donegal Mutual Insurance Company and Donegal Group, received payment in the form of 50% cash and 50% stock, or a total of $42.5 million and 2,462,373 shares of NWBI common stock.