Three Wisconsin FirstMerit Bank branches closed this month and another four are expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.
The FirstMerit branches in Jefferson, De Pere and Appleton closed June 3 in a “business-as-usual” move, said Brent Wilder, corporate public relations director for Huntington Bancshares Inc., which is in the process of acquiring FirstMerit for $3.4 billion. Akron, Ohio-based FirstMerit was already in the process of closing those branches at the time of the acquisition announcement, he said.
Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington has proposed shuttering another four Wisconsin branches following the close of the acquisition, which is anticipated to occur in the third quarter. They are located in East Troy, Sturgeon Bay, Omro and Amherst.
Those branches are expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, pending the successful completion of the merger, Wilder said. The closures will leave 38 FirstMerit branches in Wisconsin.
Employees at the branches are being offered positions at other locations, Wilder said. FirstMerit, which has 231 employees in Wisconsin, entered the state in 2013 when it acquired Flint, Michigan-based Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc.
Huntington this week announced Kevin Leissring will serve as Wisconsin regional president following the merger.
