First Financial Bancorp (FFBC)

[56Chevy]

First Financial strikes again, buying Insight Bank for $36M

Dec 20, 2013, 7:00am EST

Insight Bank has agreed to be acquired by First Financial Bancorp, giving the Cincinnati bank its second deal in the Central Ohio market this week.

Worthington-based Insight, with $200 million in assets and one full-service branch, will take on the First Financial Bank banner, joining First Bexley Bank in the fold.

First Financial CEO Claude Davis had said he intended to grow the $6.3 billion-asset bank in Central Ohio and he followed up on that pledge quickly. The cash and stock transaction for Insight Bank is worth $36.6 million. Shareholders of Insight will receive $16.40 in First Financial (NASDAQ: FFBC) common stock and $4.10 in cash, according to terms unanimously approved by both boards.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in the first half of 2014.

Insight, which also has a mortgage origination office in Newark, touts the deal as providing customers a wider array of services including improved mobile banking and wealth-management capabilities. The bank was founded in 2006, around the time First Bexley and several other de novo banks popped up around Central Ohio.

CEO Harvey Glick started Prospect Bancshares Inc. in 2001 and sold it in 2004 for $46.9 million to Sky Financial Group Inc., which was later acquired by Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ:HBAN). He took the helm at Insight in 2008.

First Financial will appoint one director from Insight to serve on its board, as well as establish a separate Columbus advisory board consisting of current Insight and First Bexley directors, in order to acclimate the bank to Central Ohio.

Insight has total loans of $165 million, total deposits of $165 million and common shareholders’ equity of $20.1 million. Its net income for the last 12 months was $1.8 million.

First Financial operates 110 branches throughout western Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2013/12/19/first-financial-strikes-again-buying.html

*aggressive acquisitions for FFBC.