First Defiance in Ohio to Buy First Community Bank

First Defiance Financial (FDEF) in Defiance, Ohio, has agreed to buy First Community Bank in Columbus, Ohio.

First Defiance plans to pay $12.9 million in cash for the $101.4 million-asset First Community, the companies said in a press release. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

The merger marks First Defiance's entrance into the Columbus market. The $2.1 billion-asset company will add First Community's four branches to the 32 it already has in northwest Ohio, southeast Michigan and northeast Indiana. First Defiance will also gain $65 million in loans, $91 million in deposits and $11 million in common equity from First Community.

"First Community's 'customer and community first' philosophy is a great match with First Defiance's culture," Donald Hileman, First Defiance's president and chief executive, said in the release. "We also believe First Community's customers will receive the same superior customer service they have become accustomed to, while benefiting from a broader array of products and services, such as insurance and wealth management, as well as a greater variety of loan and deposit products."

First Defiance's fourth-quarter earnings fell 4% from a year earlier, to $5.1 million. The decrease was partially driven by a $337,000 other-than-temporary loss related to the company's investments in collateralized debt obligations backed by trust-preferred securities.

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