ESSA Bancorp jumps on $214 mln buyout deal with CNB Financial

Essa Bancorp

10/01/2025 14:11

** Shares of community lender ESSA Bancorp  ESSA.O  jump
9.5% to $20.39 premarket, while CNB Financial  CCNE.O  rises 1%
    ** CCNE will buy smaller peer ESSA in a $214 mln all-stock
deal, the companies say, creating a combined bank with roughly
$8 bln in total assets
    ** ESSA shareholders will receive 0.8547 shares of CCNE for
each held, valuing ESSA at $20.61 per share based on CCNE's last
close
    ** Deal represents 10.6% premium to ESSA's last close and is
expected to close in Q3 2025
    ** Transaction bolsters CCNE's presence in greater Lehigh
Valley and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre markets and is expected to
boost bank's EPS by 35% in 2026
    ** ESSA CEO Gary Olson will join CCNE's board and also have
a strategic advisor role
    ** ESSA's stock fell 2.6% in 2024 while CCNE jumped 10.1% 


 (Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)
 ((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))