First Niagara Financial Group of Buffalo, N.Y., which has 46 locations in the Greater Lehigh Valley, and KeyCorp of Cleveland, Ohio, announced today that each company’s shareholders voted in favor of KeyCorp’s acquisition of First Niagara.
Last October, KeyCorp of Cleveland, which operates KeyBank, entered into an agreement to acquire First Niagara in a cash and stock transaction valued at $4.1 billion.
More than 90 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the merger, the institutions said.
“We are very pleased that First Niagara shareholders have overwhelmingly demonstrated their support for the merger with KeyCorp,” said Gary M. Crosby, CEO of First Niagara Financial Group. “This is an important step in bringing our two companies together.”
Closing on the deal is anticipated during the third quarter of this year.
First Niagara has $39 billion in assets, $29 billion in deposits and 394 banking offices in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Key has assets of about $95.4 billion and does not have any branches in the Greater Lehigh Valley.
With about $135 billion of assets, the combined bank would be the 13th largest commercial bank headquartered in the U.S, with three million customers and locations in 15 states.
The agreement is subject to regulatory approvals.
