First Financial and Westfield Bank heads aim for transition to be as smooth as possible

WESTFIELD CENTER — With the acquisition of Westfield Bank by First Financial, both businesses hope to make the transition as smooth as possible for clients and employees. On Monday, First Financial announced it entered a definitive agreement to acquire Westfield Bancorp from Ohio Farmers Insurance Company, which is the parent company of the global property and casualty insurance group conducting business as Westfield. The acquisition will be made through a cash and stock transaction and is valued at $325 million. President and CEO of First Financial Archie Brown said it is too early to know exactly how the transition will take place, but the two businesses will work together to make sure it goes smoothly. "Westfield has a great reputation in terms of how it works with clients and focuses on clients," he said. "I think that First Financial does as well. We are going to work closely together with Westfield to make sure we are preserving those client relationships through any potential changes." Brown said they hope to minimize the change as much as possible. The current Westfield Bank locations will continue to operate and later be transitioned to First Financial Bank. As part of the acquisition, Brown said Westfield Bank employees would join First Financial at the close of the agreement, but there may be some employees who are affected. He said both groups have plenty of time to work together to try and preserve as many roles as they can, with the possible creation of other roles that affected employees could fill into. Westfield Insurance Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Joe Kohmann said finding the right partner was important. He said the complementary fit geographically will provide as minimal amount of disruption to the employees as possible. Westfield Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Westfield Insurance. "Westfield has been a property and casualty insurance entity since 1848," Westfield Insurance CEO and Board Chair Ed Largent said. "That is who we are at our core and who we always will be. Westfield Bank has been a tremendous success story for us in Northeast Ohio over the last roughly 24 years." He said recently Westfield had an explosive expansion in its portfolio of property and casualty businesses, including internationally. "We saw the opportunity to increase our focus on our core business of property and casualty insurance," Largent said. "Secondarily, this move does eliminate the complexity and uncertainty associated with being a bank holding company that comes with additional regulatory supervision." Westfield Bank Chairman, President and CEO Mike Toth said First Financial also brings additional capabilities to current clients that Westfield Bank, today, does not offer. "We have the opportunity to provide additional banking services to the community in addition to a larger balance sheet," he said. "The larger balance sheet of First Financial allows us to support those clients who are looking to continue to grow and invest in their Medina County businesses." Toth said it should be a good opportunity for clients across Medina County to continue to see the same level of support from Westfield Bank with the added capabilities of additional products and solutions from First Financial. Brown said First Financial is looking forward to creating a presence in Northeast Ohio. The change will not be immediate, with a transition taking place over the course of a couple of months following the close of the agreement later this year. "The good news is the same great people that service them today will be servicing them the next day," he said. "We are very excited. This is a great expansion and a really good partnership. We have immense respect for Westfield Bank and for the brand that has been created by the team there. We are really looking forward to coming together." Largent agreed. "We are extremely pleased with this match," he said. "We think it is a great home for the next chapter of Westfield Bank." Contact reporter Patrick Rhonemus at (330) 721–4050 or prhonemus@medina-gazette.com.