FirstMerit Corporation was a diversified financial services company headquartered in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

, with assets of approximately $26.2 billion as of June 30, 2016, and 359 banking offices and 400 ATM locations in

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Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. FirstMerit provided a range of banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses. Principal affiliates included: FirstMerit Bank, N.A., and FirstMerit Mortgage Corporation. It was acquired by

Huntington Bancshares Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is an American bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The company is ranked 521st on the Fortune 500, and is 26th on the list of largest banks in the United States. The company's banking sub ...

in August 2016.

History

FirstMerit predecessors go back as far as 1845. In 1981, First National Bank of Ohio and Old Phoenix National Bank of

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

merged into First Bancorporation of Ohio (First Ohio). The next year, First Ohio purchased Twinsburg Banking Company. In 1985, Exchange Bank in

Canal Fulton Canal Fulton is a city in Stark County, Ohio. The population was 5,325 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Canton-Massillon, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Canal Fulton is located at (40.889806, -81.595339), along th ...

Stark County, Ohio Stark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 374,853. Its county seat is Canton. The county was created in 1808 and organized the next year. It is named for John Stark, an officer in t ...

was acquired by First Ohio. The Bank continued expansion in Ohio buying bank branches in many Ohio counties for the following nine years. Following the 1995 purchase of CIVISTA Corporation in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes ...

, parent of Citizens Savings, the holding company name changed from First Bancorporation to FirstMerit Corporation. FirstMerit added to its portfolio in 1997 Abell & Associates, a life insurance and financial consulting firm. Expansion of the corporation continued in Ohio and

Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Lawrence County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,070. The county seat is New Castle. Lawrence County comprises the entire New Castle, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is ...

with the purchase of 32 more branches. FirstMerit made two deals in 2009 with St. Louis-based First Bank and its affiliate for 24

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

-area branches with $1.2 billion in deposits and for the affiliates' asset-based loans. In 2010, the acquired First Banks are either closed or converted into FirstMerit branches. Expansion into Chicago continued that year with the acquisition of George Washington Savings Bank and Midwest Bank and Trust, both failed banks. On September 13, 2012, it was announced that FirstMerit would acquire Citizens Republic Bancorp in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at approximately $912 million. The acquisition closed in the second quarter of 2013. With the stock payment worth less than the stock's tangible book value, several law firms started looking into a possible case of breached fiduciary duties by Citizens Republic Board of Directors. Sandy Pierce was appointed in January 2013 as FirstMerit's vice chair and chairman and CEO of FirstMerit Michigan. In early April, both Bank Corporations' shareholders approved the merger. On April 12, 2013, FirstMerit Corporation closed the acquisition of company which will operate as of April 13 as "Citizens Bank, now part of FirstMerit Bank." The banks owned by Citizens Republic Bancorp were officially renamed FirstMerit Bank on June 13, 2013. In November 2013, the landmark Citizens Bank weather ball on top of the former Citizens Republic Bancorp headquarters in Flint, Michigan was refaced with the letters C B replaced with F M.

Huntington acquisition

On January 26, 2016, Huntington Bank announced it would purchase FirstMerit, subject to regulatory approval, in a deal that would make Huntington the largest bank in Ohio. Huntington completed the acquisition of FirstMerit on August 16. Due to

anti-trust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

concerns by the Justice Department, 11 branches in Canton and two in

Ashtabula Ashtabula ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, and the center of the Ashtabula micropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie, northeast of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had ...

were sold to First Commonwealth Bank. Additionally 107 branches located within 2.5 miles of other Huntington / FirstMerit branches were closed. All remaining FirstMerit branches and accounts were converted to Huntington in early 2017. In 2017, Huntington became responsible for the costs of a $15.9 million class-action lawsuit filed in 2011 that alleged FirstMerit unfairly charged some customers overdraft fees.

Headquarters

:''See FirstMerit Tower for more information.'' FirstMerit, founded in 1845, was headquartered in

at the FirstMerit Tower. The building, built in 1931, is the tallest in Akron with 27 floors.

Subsidiaries

*FirstMerit Bank, N.A. *FirstMerit Mortgage Corporation *FirstMerit Community Development Corporation

References

External links

Firstmerit.com
– Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Firstmerit Corporation Banks based in Ohio Companies based in Akron, Ohio Banks established in 1845 Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Huntington Bancshares Defunct banks of the United States 2016 mergers and acquisitions