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A bank with a branch in Newtown Township will merge with another financial institution.
Delaware-based WSFS Financial will acquire Philadelphia-headquartered Beneficial Bancorp as part of a $1.5 billion deal that will creative the largest community bank in the Philadelphia region.
Beneficial currently operates a branch at the corner of South Sycamore Street and Newtown-Richboro Road in Newtown Township. It also operates Bucks County branches in Bensalem, Lower Southampton, and Warminster.
The two banks have a combined $13 billion in assets. WSFS was founded in 1832 as Wilmington Savings Fund Society and Beneficial started in 1853 as Beneficial Savings Fund Society.
“As a native Philadelphian and a lifelong resident of the Delaware Valley, I believe this combination provides a compelling opportunity to serve our combined markets as it fills a long-standing gap between big banks and smaller community banks in this market. Together, we are poised and positioned to serve customers, to capture good market share, to expand the reach of our proven successful business model, and to deliver sustainable high performance for years to come,” WSFS Chairman, President, and CEO Mark Turner said.
The Newtown beneficial branch opened in 2014. It replaced the former Stockburger dealership.
Hours after the deal was announced Wednesday, WSFS stock on Wall Street was down approximately 8 percent.
The deal is expected to close in early 2019 and operational synergies should be full achieved by 2021.
