Keystone bought for $1 billion

May 17, 2000|By JULIE E. GREENE

A Buffalo, N.Y.-based bank announced plans Wednesday to acquire Keystone Financial Inc., which has 17 branches in the Tri-State area.

M&T Bank Corp. is buying Harrisburg, Pa.-based Keystone for $1 billion in stock and cash to expand its market, according to a statement at M&T's Web site at www.mandtbank.com.

The deal will not result in any community banks closing or employee layoffs at the community banks, said Keystone spokeswoman Jacquelyn Basso.

Keystone has seven branches in Washington County, including three in Hagerstown and one each in Boonsboro, Clear Spring, Sharpsburg and Williamsport.

The bank has a branch in Frederick, Md., and nine branches in Franklin County, Pa., Basso said.

The local Keystone banks will change their name to M&T Bank by the end of the year, Basso said.

The deal will make M&T the 29th largest independent banking company in the United States, according to the bank's statement.

With the deal, M&T Bank, which has banks in New York and northeastern Pennsylvania, will expand in Pennsylvania and enter the Maryland and West Virginia markets.

M&T will end up with 424 branches in New York and Pennsylvania and 25 branches in northern Maryland and West Virginia.

The acquisition has been approved by the boards of directors at both companies, but is subject to approvals by regulatory agencies and stockholders for the companies, the Web site states.

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