WSFS Financial in Wilmington, Del., has agreed to buy Alliance Bancorp Inc. of Pennsylvania in Broomall.
The $4.9 billion-asset WSFS will pay $92 million in cash and stock for the $421 million-asset Alliance in a deal set to close in the fourth quarter.
Alliance is "our fourth acquisition in recent years and our largest to date," WSFS President and Chief Executive Mark Turner said in a press release Tuesday. "Southeastern Pennsylvania is a highly desirable and complementary market expansion opportunity for our franchise."
Alliance also has $310 million in loans, $345 million in deposits and eight branches in southeastern Pennsylvania.
WSFS said it expects to incur about $9.3 million in pretax merger costs, though it also expects to cut about 40% of Alliance's noninterest expenses. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to the buyer's earnings per share in the first year, excluding one-time costs. Tangible book value dilution of less than 2% should be earned back in less than five years.
Boenning & Scattergood and Covington & Burling advised WSFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Silver Freedman Taff & Tiernan advised Alliance Bancorp.
