M&A Latest: Ohio Banks in $44M Tie-Up

Ohio-based LCNB Corporation is set to buy fellow Ohio bank Cincinnati Bancorp in a deal worth approximately $43.7 million.

In a statement, LCNB — parent company to LCNB National Bank — said it planned to acquire Cincinnati Bancorp and its subsidiary Cincinnati Federal, adding five branches across Ohio and Northern Kentucky.

Eric Meilstrup, LCNB’s president and CEO of LCNB, praised Cincinnati Federal’s “great reputation… as a ‘service first’ organization with a focus on being a leading residential mortgage lender and commercial real estate lender in the market supported by dedicated and experienced personnel”.

He added: “The combining of our two institutions will provide more benefits, financial products and opportunities for [Cincinnati Federal] customers, and create the premier community banking institution in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky market.”

The deal will add $304.7 million in total assets to LCNB’s balance sheet, along with $262.9 million in loans and $223.6 million of deposits. This will bring LCNB’s total assets to $2.3 billion and expand its branch network to 33 locations in Ohio and one in Kentucky.

The deal is subject regulatory and shareholder approval and is slated to close in the fourth quarter of this year.

Cincinnati Bancorp’s chairman and Robert Bedinghaus said the transaction would help the bank continue its growth in its local market as well as expand its product offering.

“At times, we have been constrained by our lending limit and our funding base, and we have not been able to fully meet the needs of some of our customers,” Bedinghaus said. “This will all change as we become part of a larger community bank in LCNB.”

Bedinghaus and Cincinnati Federal chief lending officer Gregory Meyers are to join LCNB in a consulting capacity to help with the integration of the two companies, and Bedinghaus is expected to join the boards of LCNB and LCNB National Bank once the deal is complete.

Separately, Fifth Third Bancorp announced last week that it had closed its acquisition of Big Data Healthcare, a specialist technology company providing services for healthcare payments and remittance.

Kevin Lavender, head of commercial banking at Fifth Third Bank, said the acquisition would allow the two companies to “collaborate, scale and continue to accelerate healthcare technology solutions that benefit current and future clients”.

Elsewhere, New Jersey-based banks Princeton Bancorp and Noah Bank have completed their planned merger. Noah Bank has merged with and into Princeton Bancorp’s subsidiary The Bank of Princeton in a deal worth $25.4 million.