Sky Financial Group

Sky Financial Group
Fate Acquisition by Huntington
Founded 1998[1] in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States
Defunct July 1, 2007
Key people
 Marty Adams, Chairman, CEO, and President
$348 million[2]
The Sky Financial Group, Inc. headquarters building in downtown Bowling Green, Ohio

Sky Financial Group, Inc., was a diversified financial services holding company that operated in the Midwestern United States from 1998 until its 2007 acquisition by rival bank Huntington Bancshares. Its largest subsidiary was Sky Bank, a commercial and retail banking company headquartered in Salineville, Ohio, that operated 330 financial centers and over 400 ATMs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia.[3] Other wholly owned subsidiaries included investment, trust, and insurance services.

Sky Financial Group was headquartered in Bowling Green, Ohio, and was formed by the 1998 "merger of equals" of the $2.2 billion Mid Am, Inc., of Bowling Green and the $1.8 billion Citizens Bancshares, Inc., of Salineville.[1] The resulting $4 billion company ranked as the 96th largest American bank.[1] At the time of its 2007 acquisition by Huntington, Sky Financial Group was the 43rd largest bank holding company in the country with over $17.6 billion in assets.[4] The company had 4330 employees.[2]

Huntington acquisition

Former SkyBank branch in downtown Steubenville, Ohio, currently a Huntington branch.

On December 20, 2006, Sky Financial Group announced that Huntington Bancshares, based out of Columbus, Ohio, would be taking over the company. This was considered a merger, with Huntington Bancshares taking the upper hand.[3] Beginning in March, Sky and Huntington began consolidating and closing redundant offices. When completed, Sky's major operations centers in Bowling Green, Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio, and East Liverpool, Ohio, were then closed. Additionally, 88 banking centers (about 25% of Sky's total footprint) were consolidated. Huntington's withdrawal these markets has resulted in their weakening economically . Several have questioned the impact on local economy this merger will have on the communities where Sky and Huntington co-exist, including Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Cleveland). Congressman Kucinich had asked the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank to hold hearings concerning the Sky-Huntington merger, however, the Federal Reserve approved the merger without regard to Kucinich's requests.[5]

Acquisition and merger history

Prior to its merger with Huntington Bancshares, Sky completed fourteen acquisitions and mergers during its nine years of operation.

Date announcedCompany Notes
2006-08-24 Wells River Bancorp Wells River Bancorp operated Perpetual Savings, a $74.7 million bank with 3 offices in Columbiana County, Ohio.[6]
2006-08-09 Waterfield Mortgage Company Waterfield Mortgage operated Union Federal, a $2.5 billion bank with 42 branches in Indiana. Union Federal Bank was the fourth largest bank in Indianapolis, Indiana.[7]
2005-06-21 Falls Bank Falls Bank was an $83.6 million bank that operated two full-service branches in the Akron, Ohio market.[8]
2004-12-22 Belmont Bancorp Belmont had $297 million in assets and 12 branches in the Wheeling, West Virginia area. Sky now has 280 branches.[9]
2004-09-17 Prospect Bancshares Prospect had $202 million in assets and four branches in the Columbus, Ohio area.[10]
2004-01-08 Second Bancorp Second was $2.1 billion in assets and operated 33 branches in the Warren, Ohio area. Sky now has nearly $15 billion in assets and over 260 offices.[11]
2003-07-16 GLB Bancorp GLB Bancorp operated Great Lakes Bank, with 13 branches in Lake and Cuyahoga counties.[12]
2002-10-24 Metropolitan Financial Corp. Metropolitan Bank was a $1.5 billion bank that operated 30 offices in the Cleveland area. Sky now has 254 financial centers and $12.5 billion in assets, making it the 54th largest bank holding company in the country.[13]
2002-05-07 Three Rivers Bancorp Three Rivers was a $1 billion commercial bank with 25 offices in the metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.[14]
2001-07-11 Standard Federal Bank Standard Federal Bank sold ten northwest Ohio offices. Sky now has 205 financial centers and has #2 market share in Wood and Lucas counties.[15]
1999-06-07 Mahoning National Bancorp Mahoning National was a $809 million bank holding company headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio that operated 20 banking offices in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. Sky Financial now has $7.7 billion in assets and ranked 66th largest bank holding company in America.[16]
1998-12-17 Wood Bancorp Wood Bancorp operated First Federal Bank, a $166 million federal savings bank with seven offices in Wood County, Ohio.[17]
1998-12-14 First Western Bancorp First Western was a $2.2 billion bank holding company headquartered in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Sky Financial now a $7 billion financial services organization with 210 banking centers.[18]
1998-07-22 The Ohio Bank The Ohio bank had over $600 million in assets and operated 18 branches with 250 employees. It was the number one market share holder in Hancock and Putnam counties.[19]
1998-05-22 Mid Am and Citizens Bancshares Merger of equals between the $2.2 billion Mid Am, Inc. and the $1.8 billion Citizens, Inc. resulting in a combined bank with 144 branches and over 2,300 employees.[20]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Mid Am, East Ohio Bank OK $4 Billion Union". The Blade. 1998-05-22.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Sky Financial Group Inc.". Holding Companies. iBanknet.com. 2007-05-08. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Huntington Bancshares And Sky Financial Group Announce Merger Agreement" (Press release). Huntington Bancshares Inc. 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
  4. ↑ "Top 50 bank holding companies". Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. 2007-03-31. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  5. ↑ "Federal Reserve Bank has Failed Northeast Ohio Residents by Allowing Huntington Bank’s Acquisition of Sky Bank" (Press release). Congressman Dennis Kucinich. 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  6. ↑ "Sky Financial buying Indianapolis bank". American City Business Journals. 2006-08-24. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  7. ↑ "Sky Financial to acquire Columbiana County bank". American City Business Journals. 2006-08-09. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  8. ↑ "Sky Financial Group to Acquire Falls Bank" (Press release). PR Newswire. 2005-06-21. Retrieved 2007-01-08.
  9. ↑ "Sky Financial plans another purchase". American City Business Journals. 2004-12-22. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  10. ↑ "Sky purchasing Columbus bank". American City Business Journals. 2004-09-17. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  11. ↑ "Sky agrees to buy Second Bancorp". American City Business Journals. 2004-01-08. Retrieved 2007-01-08.
  12. ↑ "Sky Financial buying Great Lakes Bank". American City Business Journals. 2003-07-16. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  13. ↑ "Sky Financial agrees to buy Metropolitan Financial". American City Business Journals. 2002-10-24. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  14. ↑ "Sky Financial Group and Three Rivers Bancorp Announce Merger" (Press release). EDGAR. 2002-05-07. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  15. ↑ "Sky Bank Announces Agreement with Standard Federal Bank to Acquire Branch Offices in Northwest Ohio" (Press release). Sky Financial Group. 2001-07-11. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  16. ↑ "Sky Financial Group Announces Affiliation of Mahoning National Bancorp, Inc." (Press release). EDGAR. 1999-06-07. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  17. ↑ "Wood Bancorp, Inc. Announces Plans to Affiliate with Sky Financial Group, Inc., Bowling Green, Ohio" (Press release). EDGAR. 1998-12-17. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  18. ↑ "Sky Financial Group, Inc. Agrees to Acquire First Western Bancorp, Inc." (Press release). EDGAR. 1998-12-14. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  19. ↑ "The Ohio Bank to Affiliate with Citizens Bancshares, Inc. and Mid Am, Inc." (Press release). EDGAR. 1998-07-22. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  20. ↑ "Mid Am, Inc. and Citizens Bancshares, Inc. Announce Merger of Equals" (Press release). EDGAR. 1998-05-21. Retrieved 2007-07-18.

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