First Financial’s newest acquisition: Oak Street Holdings

First Financial Bank has reached its latest acquisition deal with nationally-recognized lender Oak Street Holdings Corp., the company announced Thursday.

Cincinnati-based First Financial has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Oak Street, which provides funding, lending, and servicing to insurance agents and brokers throughout the United States.

“We view our partnership with Oak Street as a tremendous opportunity to expand and diversify our service offerings and also provide Oak Street’s team with the balance sheet and funding capacity necessary to continue to grow the business,” said Claude Davis, chairman and chief executive officer of First Financial Bank, in a written statement.

Plans are for Oak Street to continue to operate under its name, Davis said, and staff will continue to work for the lender.

Upon completion of the deal, Oak Street, which is based in Indianapolis and had $242 million in assets as of June 30, will become a subsidiary of First Financial Bank. Oak Street’s current President and CEO, Rick Dennen, will also continue in his current position.

First Financial has grown through acquisition. It officially entered the Central Ohio market in 2014 after acquiring Columbus-area banks Guernsey Bancorp, Insight Bank and First Bexley Bank. Overall, the company converted five banking centers in connection to those acquisitions in the third and fourth quarters of 2014.

Timeline of First Financial Bancorp’s acquisitions

First Financial, with $7.2 billion in assets, is the fifth largest bank by deposits held in the Cincinnati metropolitan, and ninth largest in the Dayton metro, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The bank’s footprint covers Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Here’s a look at its recent acquisition history.

2009: Completed Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-assisted acquisitions of Peoples Community Bank, Irwin Union Bank and Trust Co., and Irwin Union Bank F.S.B., significantly increasing its presence in greater Cincinnati and southern Indiana Those purchases doubled First Financial's assets from approximately $3 billion in 2008 to more than $6 billion by 2010.

2011: Completed acquisition of Liberty Savings Bank branches in the Dayton area, increasing its presence in the Dayton market. Also completed acquisition of Flagstar Bank branches in Indiana, significantly bolstering its presence in the Indianapolis market.

2014: First Financial closed merger deals last year on three Central Ohio banks, through which it entered the Columbus market: Guernsey Bancorp, Insight Bank and First Bexley Bank.

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