WesBanco Inc. announced late Monday that it had terminated its in-state merger deal with Freedom Bancshares Inc. of Belington because of the recent downgrade of its own Community Reinvestment Act rating, but that it still planned to go ahead with its announced acquisition of American Bancorp of Wheeling.
The $2.4 billion-asset WesBanco said that it and $105 million-asset Freedom had mutually agreed to end the $11 million stock transaction, which had been in the works for 10 months.
This announcement came at the same time WesBanco announced it would appeal the needs improvement rating that the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland gave the company in July.
WesBanco also said that the downgrade of its CRA rating could adversely affect its ability to obtain regulatory approval for its $77 million acquisition deal for $691 million-asset American, which was announced in March. WesBanco added that the two companies would evaluate their options and determine the appropriate course of action as the appeals process proceeds.
