Beth Mooney, chairman and CEO of Cleveland, Ohio-based KeyCorp, and Gary Crosby, president and CEO of Buffalo-based First Niagara Financial Group Inc. on Nov. 3, 2015 spoke with local employees about KeyBank’s pending acquisition of First Niagara. They conducted the employee meetings at at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center in Syracuse. (Eric Reinhardt / BJNN file photo)
Shareholders of both companies on Wednesday voted to approve KeyCorp’s (NYSE: KEY) acquisition of First Niagara Financial Group (NASDAQ: FNFG).
They approved the acquisition during special meetings held in Cleveland, Ohio, where KeyCorp is headquartered, and in Buffalo, which is home to the headquarters of First Niagara Financial Group.
More than 90 percent of the votes cast at each meeting were in favor of the acquisition, KeyCorp said in a news release posted on its website Wednesday morning.
KeyCorp announced it would acquire First Niagara on Oct. 30, 2015 in a cash and stock transaction valued at about $4.1 billion.
The shareholders’ vote allows the proposed acquisition to continue to move forward.
It is still subject to regulatory approvals, KeyCorp said. The banking company anticipates the acquisition will close during the third quarter of 2016.
The acquisition will create a “leading” regional bank to serve 3 million clients across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, KeyCorp contended in its Oct 30, 2015 news release.
It will make KeyCorp a leading bank in upstate New York, with a “strong” market presence in Syracuse, Buffalo, Albany, and Rochester, the company boasted.
“I would like to thank our shareholders for their support and their vote of confidence,” Beth Mooney, chairman and CEO of KeyCorp, said in the banking company’s news release. “KeyBank and First Niagara are indeed better together … a powerful combination that will bring a new level of capabilities and expertise to our clients; new opportunities for our employees; and even greater investment in our communities. Our integration efforts are on track, and we remain both confident in and committed to achieving the financial and growth targets of the First Niagara acquisition.”
“We are very pleased that First Niagara shareholders have overwhelmingly demonstrated their support for the merger with KeyCorp. This is an important step in bringing our two companies together for the benefit of our customers, employees, shareholders and the communities we serve,” Gary Crosby, CEO of First Niagara Financial Group, said in the KeyCorp news release.
Shares of KeyCorp ended Wednesday down 15 cents at $11.26 per share, while shares of First Niagara Financial Group also ended the day down 15 cents at $9.77 per share, according to Yahoo Finance.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
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