Community Bank to complete acquisition of Oneida Financial on Dec. 4

DeWITT, N.Y. — Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) has set Dec. 4 as the closing date for its acquisition of Oneida Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ONFC).

The closing is subject to the “satisfaction” of customary closing conditions and the approval of the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), Community Bank said in a news release issued Wednesday.

The parties expect DFS approval “shortly,” according to the release.

Community Bank announced the closing date, noting that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System informed both sides that they had approved the proposed merger.

 “We are excited to be partnering with Oneida Financial to extend and strengthen our Central New York service area,” Mark Tryniski, president and CEO of Community Bank System, said in the release.

As previously announced, the deadline for Oneida Financial’s stockholders to submit election forms regarding the form of merger consideration is Nov. 25.

Based on the anticipated closing date of Dec. 4, all locations of Oneida Savings Bank will reopen as Community Bank, N.A. locations on Dec. 7.

Job cuts

Oneida Savings Bank will cut 47 back-office jobs at its offices in Oneida and Rome between Dec. 11 and Dec. 24, according to a notification on the New York Department of Labor website.

The cuts will be made to positions with “overlapping operational responsibilities,” Hal Wentworth, senior VP of retail banking for Community Bank, said in a statement in mid-May when the layoffs were first announced.

DeWitt–based Community Bank System operates more than 190 branches across upstate New York and Northeastern Pennsylvania. It ranks fifth in deposit market share in the 16-county Central New York area, according to the latest FDIC data.

The company has assets of about $7.9 billion, and expects to be at about $8.5 billion following the closing of the Oneida Financial deal.

Besides retail and business-banking services, Community Bank offers financial planning, insurance, and wealth-management services.

Oneida Financial had total assets of $816 million as of Sept. 30.

Oneida Financial’s wholly owned subsidiaries include The Oneida Savings Bank; State Bank of Chittenango; OneGroup NY, Inc. (formerly Bailey & Haskell Associates, Inc.), an insurance, risk management and employee benefits company; and Oneida Wealth Management, Inc., a financial and investment advisory firm.

Established in 1866, Oneida Savings Bank operates 12 banking offices in Madison and Oneida counties.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com