First Midwest Bancorp in Itasca, Ill., is planning to close 16 branches in connection with its acquisition of Standard Bancshares in Hickory Hill, Ill.
The $10.7 billion-asset First Midwest announced in June that it was buying Standard for $365 million in stock and said at the time that it would cut Standard's noninterest expense by about 40%. As part of that pledge, First Midwest said last week that it will close 10 Standard branches that overlap with First Midwest locations, as well as six existing First Midwest branches. News of the branch closings was first reported by Crain's Chicago.
First Midwest has 110 branches in Illinois and Indiana while Standard operates 35 branches in the two states. Twelve of the combined companies' branches slated to close are in Illinois and four are in Indiana. The acquisition is expected to close later this year or in early 2017.
First Midwest is also reducing overhead by selling 55 of its branches to a private equity group for about $150 million and then leasing them back. That transaction is expected to close at the end of September.
