First Commonwealth in Ind. to enter Cincinnati with Foundation Bank deal

First Commonwealth Financial in Indiana, Pa., has agreed to buy Garfield Acquisition in Cincinnati.

The $7.4 billion-asset First Commonwealth said in a press release Wednesday that it will pay $58 million in cash and stock for the parent of the $216 million-asset Foundation Bank. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

First Commonwealth will enter Cincinnati when it completes the acquisition.

"This partnership is a continuation of our strategy to expand our footprint into Ohio, and is the perfect follow up to our recent successful acquisitions in northern and central Ohio,” T. Michael Price, First Commonwealth’s CEO, said in the release.

Foundation “represents an excellent springboard for our commercial and mortgage banking activities in the Cincinnati metro area,” Price added. “I have personally spent part of my banking career in Cincinnati, and I am confident the First Commonwealth brand will resonate well with consumers and business owners in the region.”

First Commonwealth said it expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to tangible book value per share and nominally accretive to earnings per share in the first full year of operations.

First Commonwealth was advised by Raymond James. Squire Patton Boggs advised Garfield.

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