Company Profile
- First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) (“First Financial” or “the company”) is the BHC for main subsidiary, First Financial Bank, which operates 127 banking locations across the Midwest.
- FFBC has utilized a fairly active M&A strategy over the years, completing 4 whole-bank and 4 non-bank acquisitions since 2013. The most notable was the 2018 merger with MainSource Financial Group, Inc., which added ~$5 billion in assets and brought them above the $10 billion asset threshold. On the non-bank side, deals have focused on revenue diversification and asset generation through the addition of specialty commercial finance businesses, including RIA, insurance agency, franchise, equipment, and premium finance. These verticals provide attractive risk-adjusted returns and geographic diversification given their national scope.
- In 2025, FFBC announced the acquisitions of Westfield Bancorp (closed 4Q25) and BankFinancial Corporation (1Q26 closing), which…