Bluefield, Virginia-based First Community Bankshares will acquire Main Street Financial Services Corp. in a roughly $243 million deal that will extend the buyer’s footprint into Ohio, the companies announced Wednesday.
The transaction, set to close in the second quarter of 2027, will add $1.6 billion in assets to First Community’s bottom line, along with $1.4 billion in deposits and $1.3 billion in loans.
It also adds 21 branches to First Community’s 61-location spread. Seventeen of those are in the Buckeye State – new territory for the Virginia lender. The expansion would put First Community within an hour of downtown Cleveland.
Despite the pending proximity to such an urban center, First Community, in a press release, complimented Main Street’s “acumen in farm and agricultural lending,” calling its acquisition target a “high performing community bank.”
Indeed, Wooster, Ohio-based Main Street reported a 43% year-over-year jump in profit when it disclosed its third-quarter earnings Tuesday.
“Main Street brings talented bankers, a demonstrated ability to organically grow loans, and attractive markets in which to employ our customer-focused community banking,” William Stafford II, the chair and CEO of First Community’s holding company, said in a statement Wednesday.
Main Street’s other attractive market, to First Community, is West Virginia’s northern panhandle, where the Ohio lender counts four branches. Together, First Community and Main Street are expected to report about $5.2 billion in assets before adjustments related to the transaction, the banks said.
Under the transaction’s terms, Main Street investors will receive 0.6174 shares of First Community common stock for each share they own, with cash paid for fractional shares. The $243 million deal value is based on First Community’s 10-day volume-weighted average stock price of $48.82 per share as of Monday.
Main Street CEO Mark Witmer will join First Community as president of the Ohio region, the banks said. Additionally, one director from Main Street’s board will join the boards of First Community Bank and its holding company.
“We have built a strong community banking franchise through disciplined lending, exceptional customer service and longstanding relationships in the markets we serve,” Witmer said in a statement Wednesday. “By joining First Community, we will gain the financial strength, lending capacity and expanded capabilities of a larger organization while preserving the local relationships and personalized service that have been central to our success.”
One of those expanded capabilities is wealth management, a segment in which First Community managed and administered $1.8 billion in assets as of Sept. 30.
“Together, we can offer customers higher lending limits and enhanced products and technology while creating opportunities for growth and operating efficiencies,” Stafford said.
