No merger for Integra Bank, Peoples Community

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Jan. 31 - The boards of directors of Integra Bank Corp. and Peoples Community Bancorp, Inc. have elected to terminate the companies' previously announced merger agreement.

No penalties were incurred by either company in connection with the termination, which was blamed in part on the slumping housing market.

"It is unfortunate that the ongoing crisis in the housing market has worsened so quickly, created so much uncertainty and fundamentally changed the attitudes of the stock market, industry experts and regulators toward mergers," Integra president and chief executive officer Mike Vea said in a news release.

Peoples CEO Jerry Williams said the best course of action for Peoples is to remain an independent community bank.

Under the companies' Sept. 13 agreement, Peoples was set to merge into Integra and Peoples Community Bank would have merged with and into Integra Bank NA, with Integra Bank NA being the surviving institution.

Each share of Peoples common stock would have been converted into the right to receive 0.6175 of a share of Integra common stock and $6.30 in cash, or about $17.69 per share.

The deal was valued at $85.6 million. It was previously reported that a $3.0 million termination fee was included in the agreement.

Integra, the parent of Integra Bank, is based in Evansville, Ill.

Peoples, located in West Chester, Ohio, is the holding company for Peoples Community Bank.

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