FirstMerit Completes Conversion of Midwest Bank and Trust Branches in Chicago

AKRON, Ohio, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FirstMerit Corporation (Nasdaq: FMER) has successfully converted its Chicago-area Midwest Bank and Trust branches to the FirstMerit brand. All branches reopened as FirstMerit on Saturday morning, October 9, 2010. FirstMerit acquired Midwest from the FDIC on May 14, 2010, following its acquisition of George Washington Savings Bank in February 2010 and the Chicago-area branches of First Bank in November 2009.

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"This marks the full unification of our three acquisitions into the FirstMerit brand, systems and culture," said Paul Greig, FirstMerit chairman, president and CEO. "In less than a year, FirstMerit, one of the country's strongest and most stable banks, has gone from having no presence in Chicago to being the 14th largest bank in terms of deposits. Our 47 total branches are located throughout the Chicago area in locations convenient to where our customers live and work. We look forward to providing our world-class service to our communities."

During the conversion process, three Midwest branches were permanently closed on October 9 due to close proximity to other FirstMerit locations. All employees from the closed branches were reassigned to nearby locations with no loss of jobs to the communities.

Serving its customers and communities is the driver of the company's super-community bank model. It has been recognized nationally and regionally for excellence in small business banking by Greenwich Associates and has received an "Outstanding" ranking from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for its Community Reinvestment Act performance.

Grand Opening Celebrations

Beginning Monday, October 18 and continuing through November 16, all 47 Chicago-area FirstMerit branches will be holding Grand Opening celebrations with sweepstakes drawings for $5,000, $3,000 and $1,000 as well as tickets for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra performance at Allstate Arena on November 26. Each branch also will be holding drawings for $50 and $25 FirstMerit MasterCard gift cards.

About FirstMerit

FirstMerit Corporation is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Akron, Ohio, with assets of $14.5 billion as of June 30, 2010 and 203 banking offices and 224 ATMs in Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and the Chicago area. FirstMerit Corporation provides a complete range of banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses through its core operations. Principal wholly-owned subsidiaries include: FirstMerit Bank, N.A., FirstMerit Mortgage Corporation, FirstMerit Title Agency, Ltd., and FirstMerit Community Development Corporation.

SOURCE FirstMerit Corporation

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