Community Bank to acquire 18 Citizens Bank locations

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June 26, 2008

Central New York bank buying area branches

By DAN HEATH The Press Republican Thu Jun 26, 2008, 06:17 AM EDT

PLATTSBURGH -- Community Bank has acquired 18 Citizens Bank locations in northern New York.

Community Bank System Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Community Bank, N.A., will acquire the branches from Citizens Financial Group Inc.

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Community Bank System President and CEO Mark Tryniski said the acquisition represents an attractive opportunity.

"It's a logical expansion of our market-leading, northern New York footprint and includes a highly attractive base of core funding relationships," he said.

"We are pleased to be gaining a dedicated and talented group of employees who share our culture of delivering exceptional customer service and have the same community-based values under which we operate."

LOCAL BRANCHES

Community Bank, based in DeWitt, will acquire four Citizens branches in Plattsburgh and one each in Champlain, AuSable Forks, Malone, Fort Covington, Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, Newcomb, Ticonderoga, Lyons Falls, Long Lake, Indian Lake, North Creek and Whitehall.

Community Bank already has 10 branch offices in Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties.

It was not immediately apparent whether any jobs would be lost or branches closed in the transition.

The change would leave six Plattsburgh locations, including Price Chopper and Wal-Mart; three each in Tupper Lake and Malone; and two in Saranac Lake.

The acquisition remains subject to regulatory approval. It is expected to be finalized sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.

Both banks will be communicating with customers shortly to explain what will happen after the acquisition.

"We will be working together to insure a smooth transition over the coming months, and the transaction should be virtually transparent to Citizens' customers," Tryniski said. "Customers do not need to take any action at this time."

STRATEGIC DECISION

Citizens Financial Group Vice President for Retail and Business Banking Dana Drago said in a statement that the sale of these few branches in the Adirondack region is a strategic business decision to realign its distribution network.

"We will continue to expand our core franchise in larger metropolitan portions of New York state, which continues to grow. The branches being sold represent one percent of our 1,600 total branches and one-half percent of our total deposits," she said.

The agreement calls for Community Bank to acquire about $135 million in loans and $630 million in deposits at a blended deposit premium of 12 percent.

Community Bank System has $4.7 billion in assets and 140 customer facilities across upstate New York, where it operates as Community Bank N.A., and Northeastern Pennsylvania, where it is known as First Liberty Bank and Trust.

Citizens Bank Group is a $160 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. Through its subsidiaries it has more than 1,600 branches and 24,000 employees.

Citizens Financial Group is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. It is one of the 10 largest commercial banking companies in the United States as ranked by assets and deposits.

dheath@pressrepublican.com