- Key takeaway: Although it will likely pause M&A to focus on integration, First Financial CEO Archie Brown said the company has no plans to move to the sidelines, even after its third deal in 13 months.
- Supporting data: After acquiring Finward, First Financial would have $4.1 billion of deposits in the Chicago marketplace.
- Expert quote: "We are creating a stronger regional banking franchise with expanded capabilities, greater resources, and a sharper focus on delivering exceptional service." — Finward CEO Benjamin Bochnowski
In its second Chicago-area deal of the last year, Cincinnati-based First Financial Bancorp has agreed to pay $208 million for Finward Bancorp in Munster, Indiana.
The $22.4 billion-asset buyer announced plans last August to
After buying the $2 billion-asset Finward, parent to the 116-year-old Peoples Bank, First Financial would have $4.1 billion of deposits and more than 40 branches in Chicagoland. First Financial President and CEO Archie Brown characterized that combined footprint as a solid platform for an organic build-out, though he also did not rule out additional Chicago-area deals.
"These two [mergers], the one we've closed and the one we're announcing now, will give us opportunities to hold some more conversations and discussions over the next year or two," Brown said Wednesday on a conference call with analysts.
"We think there's more to do, but I think if this is where we've landed, it's big enough," Brown added.
First Financial — founded as First National Bank of Hamilton in Hamilton, Ohio — has been an acquirer throughout its 163-year history. Indeed, Brown joined the company following
Brown spent his first seven years as First Financial's CEO without striking a deal. In the past 13 months, however, he has engineered three combinations: with
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First Financial plans to pause its merger-and-acquisition activities for about a year to focus on integration, then return to the market, Brown said Wednesday. "There's just a window where opportunities are popping up," he said. "We'll assess them as they come."
Finward and its Peoples Bank subsidiary operate 24 branches in Northwest Indiana and Illinois. The company's CEO, Benjamin Bochnowski, said the deal accelerates a "common strategy" of growing in the Chicagoland market.
"We are creating a stronger regional banking franchise with expanded capabilities, greater resources, and a sharper focus on delivering exceptional service," Bochnowski said in a press release.
The proposed all-cash deal would also unite Finward with a stronger-earning organization. First Financial, which disclosed second-quarter results Tuesday, reported a return on average assets of 1.37%. Meanwhile, Finward reported a 0.45% return on assets for the quarter ended March 31. Finward earned $8.1 million in 2025, down from $12.1 million the previous year.
"We also cannot say we're surprised to see this outcome for Finward given the time it would take to naturally cure profitability," Hovde analyst Brendan Nosal wrote Wednesday in a research note.
Analyst reaction to the planned acquisition was broadly positive. Nosal wrote that he liked the "raw deal math, strategic rationale and funding bona fides" of the combination. Meanwhile, Truist Securities' Brian Foran noted that First Financial has already hit its earnings-accretion targets for both Westfield and Bank Financial.
First Financial is projecting 5% earnings-per-share accretion once cost savings are fully phased in.
