F.N.B. Corp. in Pittsburgh will sell its consumer finance subsidiary and close up to 20 retail bank branches, the company said Thursday.
The $32 billion-asset company will sell Regency Finance Co. to Mariner Finance in a stock purchase agreement expected to close during the second half of the year. F.N.B. did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
Regency is “a non-strategic business segment that does not fit with" F.N.B.'s core business, the company said.
F.N.B. will also close as many as 20 First National Bank of Pennsylvania branches this year, citing increased consumer preferences for mobile and online banking channels.
The company said that the two actions together would improve both operating efficiency in its retail network and the credit profile of its consumer loan portfolio. F.N.B. said that its branch strategy could also include opening new locations in higher-growth markets.
F.N.B. operates more than 400 branches across eight states in the mid-Atlantic, with the majority of those branches in its home state of Pennsylvania.
The company has owned Regency Finance since 1974. As of March 31, Regency Finance had 77 offices throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, and it has total assets of around $170 million. The subsidiary makes home equity loans and lines of credit, personal loans and auto loans.
Sandler O'Neill acted as financial adviser and Reed Smith LLP served as legal counsel to F.N.B. for the Regency Finance transaction. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as legal counsel to Mariner Finance on the deal.
