Premier Financial Bancorp Inc. in Huntington, W.Va., announced Tuesday that it plans to buy the $106 million-asset Traders Bankshares Inc. in Spencer, W.Va., for about $18.1 million in cash and stock.
Premier, with $547 million of assets, is a multibank holding company with subsidiaries in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. Traders, the parent of Traders Bank, has branches in Ripley and Mineral Wells, W.Va., two communities along Interstate 77 between Parkersburg and Charleston.
"The Traders locations fit very well into our West Virginia footprint," said Premier president and chief executive officer Robert W. Walker. Traders shareholders would get $50 in cash and 3.75 shares of Premier stock for each share they own under terms of the acquisition agreement. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2008.
