Peoples Financial Services, FNCB Bancorp announce merger

WILKES-BARRE — Peoples Financial Services Corp. on Thursday announced it has entered into a definitive agreement under which Peoples and FNCB will combine in an all-stock strategic merger.

The merger is valued at approximately $129 million based on a 20-day volume weighted average stock price for Peoples’ common stock of $44.13 as of Sept. 26, 2023, resulting in an implied price per share to holders of FNCB Common Stock of approximately $6.44 per share.

Under the terms of the definitive agreement, which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, upon the completion of the merger, the FNCB shareholders would receive 0.1460 shares of Peoples common stock for each share of FNCB common stock they own.

The pro forma post-merger shareholder ownership split would be approximately 71% for Peoples and 29% for FNCB.

Luzerne County locations

Peoples Security Bank, 435 Wyoming Ave., Kingston.

FNCB Bank has 9 locations, Shavertown, 196 North Main St.; Exeter, 1625 Wyoming Ave.; Hazleton, 340 W. Broad St.; Kingston, 754 Wyoming Ave.; Mountain Top, 360 South Mountain Blvd.; Nanticoke, 194 South Market St.; Pittston, 1700 North Township Blvd.; Plains Township, 1150 Route 315; Wilkes-Barre, 1 North Main St.

Highlights of the transaction

Strategic merger that creates a bank holding company with nearly $5.5 billion in assets and a combined market capitalization of approximately $444 million.

#2 ranked deposit market share in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metro statistical area and #5 ranked Pennsylvania-headquartered community bank under $20 billion in total assets.

The headquarters of the combined holding company will be located in Scranton, and the combined bank headquarters will be based in Dunmore.

The combined bank holding company will operate under the name “Peoples Financial Services Corp.” and will trade under the Peoples ticker symbol “PFIS” on the NASDAQ Stock Market. The combined bank will operate under the “Peoples Security Bank and Trust Company” brand.

Both companies have closely aligned leadership cultures dedicated to the success of our customers, communities, employees and shareholders.