Shareholders this morning overwhelmingly approved the merger of two banks with a large Capital Region presence, KeyCorp and First Niagara Financial Group.
KeyCorp will still need federal regulatory approval to acquire First Niagara. It said that it expects to receive that by the third quarter of this year.
Given the two banks’ large number of locations in the Capital Region, there may be some consolidation after the merger is completed, but KeyCorp spokeswoman Therese Myers told The Gazette that it is too early to say what locations if any might be closed. “We’re still looking at all that,” she said.
She said Key operates 44 branches in its 10-county Albany region. Combined with the regional headquarters operation, split between two offices in Albany, there are about 800 Key employees in the region. First Niagara, according to its website, operates 29 branches within 25 miles of downtown Albany, plus its regional headquarters, also in Albany.
KeyCorp, based in Cleveland, and First Niagara Financial Group, based in Buffalo, are both bank holding companies. The actual bank branches are operated by KeyBank and First Niagara Bank N.A., respectively. At the end of 2015, KeyCorp held about $95 billion in assets. First Niagara Financial Group holds approximately $40 billion.
