Franklin Financial Services Corp. in Chambersburg, Pa., is buying Fulton Bancshares Corp. in McConnellsburg, Pa., for $23.5 million in cash and stock.
The price is 1.55 times book value. The deal was announced late Monday and is expected to close in the third quarter.
Franklin, which has $600 million of assets, has not bought a bank since the 1980s, said William E Snell Jr., its president and chief executive officer. His company owns Farmers and Merchants Trust Co., which has 16 branches in Franklin and Cumberland counties.
Fulton has $140 million of assets and owns Fulton County National Bank and Trust Co., which has one branch in Franklin County and six in neighboring Fulton, Bedford, and Huntingdon counties. Fulton County National, which is 118 years old, would be merged into Farmers and Merchants, which will be 100 next month.
Mr. Snell said it is a good time to enter McConnellsburg market. JLG Industries Inc., which is based there, recently announced an expansion that is expected to add more than 300 jobs, he noted.
Also, Mr. Snell said, with real estate prices rising in and around Chambersburg, homebuyers are starting to see McConnellsburg as lower-cost alternative.
