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First Niagara Bank (NASDAQ: FNFG)is an FDIC-insured regional banking corporation headquartered in Lockport, New York. It was founded in 1870 as Farmers and Mechanics' Savings Bank and was then re-branded as Lockport Savings Bank in 1967. The bank was based in its home county, Niagara until the 1990s when it spread to nearby Buffalo, New York and its surrounding Erie County, New York. Part of this growth could be attributed to the collapse of the Buffalo-centric banks Goldome and Empire of America. [2] Most of this growth was from the recruitment of new customers, as opposed to the purchase of other firms' assets. Although, in 1998 the bank did purchase the regional insurance brokerage firm Warren-Hoffman & Associates Inc. as a means of entering the insurance business. [3] As of 2007, the bank had over $8 billion in assets, 120 branches in 24 counties of New York State, and a workforce of over 1800 employees.
In September, 2007 it was announce that First Niagara was to purchase Great Lakes Bancorp, parent company of Greater Buffalo Savings Bank. The price to purchase the 16 branch bank was $153 million. With the nearly $900 million of assets of the Great Lakes Bancorp, First Niagara became the fourth largest bank in the Buffalo-Niagara region [4] [5].
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