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ACNB Corp. Receives Regulatory Consent for Traditions Bancorp Buyout

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ACNB Corp. (ACNB - Free Report) has obtained requisite regulatory approvals or waivers to acquire Traditions Bancorp, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Traditions Bank. The deal was announced in July.

The approval has been issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities.

Details of the Acquisition Pursued by ACNB

ACNB announced an all-stock transaction worth $73.5 million to acquire Traditions Bancorp, with a termination fee of roughly 4% of the deal value.

Traditions Bancorp, established in 2002 and headquartered in York, PA, operates with eight full-service branches. It is a leading community bank in York County with the second-largest deposit market share.

Per the agreement, ACNB will issue 0.73 shares for each share of Traditions Bancorp’s common stock as of the closing date. The deal is expected to be closed on Feb. 1, 2025, subject to customary and shareholder approvals.

Further, upon the closing of the transaction, three directors from Traditions Bancorp will join the boards of ACNB and ACNB Bank, including chairman and CEO Eugene J. Draganosky, who will be designated as vice chairman.

Shareholders of both banks will be voting with regard to the proposed transaction in a special meeting to be held on Dec. 18, 2024.

ACNB’s Rationale Behind This Acquisition

ACNB is likely to benefit from expected cost savings of 35% of Traditions Bancorp’s non-interest expenses. Of this, 75% will be phased in 2025 and the rest will be realized thereafter.

The deal is anticipated to be 29.1% and 29.6% accretive to 2025 and 2026 earnings per share, respectively, assuming the execution of cost savings. Also, tangible book value is expected to be diluted by roughly 9.2% with a projected earn-back period of approximately 2.25 years.

Further, ACNB projects roughly 15.4% average tangible common equity and 1% return on average assets, and an internal rate of return of more than 15%.

This transaction aligns with ACNB’s multi-year strategic plan for inorganic growth while bolstering the potential for future organic growth. Further, Tradition Bancorp’s mortgage banking unit complements the company’s existing insurance and wealth management businesses, leading to higher non-interest income and loan growth.

Moreover, the deal meaningfully expands ACNB’s branch footprint in Lancaster County with a lower commercial real estate loan concentration and improves the deposit mix.

ACNB’s Zacks Rank & Price Performance

Year to date, shares of ACNB have risen 7.5% compared with the industry’s growth of 26%. 

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Currently, ACNB carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Acquisitions Pursued by Other Banks

Earlier this month, The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BK - Free Report) acquired Archer Holdco, LLC, a leading technology-enabled service provider of managed account solutions to the asset and wealth management industry. The financial terms of the deal, announced on Sept. 5, were kept under wraps.

This move aligns with BK’s inorganic growth strategy to boost its services. Archer provides comprehensive middle- and back-office solutions to asset and wealth managers, enabling them to address the managed account needs of institutional, private wealth and retail investors.

Similarly, Barclays PLC (BCS - Free Report) completed the acquisition of the retail banking business of Tesco Personal Finance plc. The deal was announced this February.

The deal is anticipated to result in the recognition of an estimated pre-tax profit of £0.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, generating a 50-basis point accretion for the 2024 return on tangible equity for BCS.


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