Ohio bank Huntington Bancshares Inc. and regional rival FirstMerit Corp. jointly announced their merger Tuesday. Based on the Monday closing price of Huntington shares, the transaction was valued at about $3.4 billion.

The merged entity will have assets worth about $100 billion, creating the largest bank in Ohio, in terms of deposit market share, according to the announcement posted on Huntington’s website. It will operate in eight Midwestern states, expanding Huntington’s operations into Chicago and Wisconsin.

“I believe the strength of this deal is that both organizations already understand the needs and goals of our Midwestern customers and communities,” Huntington CEO Steve Steinour said in the statement.

Under the terms of agreement, FirstMerit will merge with a subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares, and its subsidiary FirstMerit Bank will merge with and into the Huntington National Bank. Four independent members of FirstMerit’s board of directors will also join the Huntington board.

FirstMerit shareholders will get 1.72 shares of Huntington common stock and $5 in cash for each share they own, according to the statement. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2016, and is subject to regulatory and shareholders’ approval.

“Joining forces with Huntington will give us an opportunity to combine both companies’ commercial, small business, wealth, and consumer expertise while giving all of our customers greater access to services. We will also leverage our strong credit culture and continue our mutual tradition of community involvement to help our Midwest markets grow,” FirstMerit CEO Paul Greig said in the statement.

Between the two companies, they operate more than 1,100 branches and 1,900 ATMs across the Midwest.

RELATED STORIES