First Financial Bancorp of Cincinnati has received the go-ahead from the Federal Reserve to merge with MainSource Financial Group of Greenberg, Ind. – and for First Financial Bank to establish and operate branches at the main office and branches of MainSource. The Fed announced the approval of the merger, and branch operations, Thursday.
In a release, the Fed said that First Financial Bancorp controls First Financial Bank, which operates in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. As a result of the merger with MainSource (which controls MainSource Bank, and operates in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio), First Financial will become the 109th largest insured depository institution in the United States, with consolidated assets of approximately $13.4 billion. The bank holding company prior to the merger held assets of approximately $8.8 billion and was the 149th largest insured depository organization in the nation.
The Fed announcement notes that Kentucky imposes a 15% limit on the total amount of in-state deposits that a single banking organization may control, and Ohio imposes a 30% limit on the total amount of in-state deposits that a single banking organization may control. The combined organization, according to the Fed, would control approximately 4.1% of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions in Indiana, approximately 0.9% of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions in Kentucky, and approximately 1.2% of the total amount of deposits of insured depository institutions in Ohio, the only states in which First Financial and MainSource have overlapping banking operations.