Staff report

WesBanco Inc., based in Wheeling, W.Va., completed its acquisition of Premier Financial Corp., the company announced Friday.

The holding company closing was followed by the merger of Premier’s subsidiary bank, Premier Bank, with and into Wesbanco’s banking subsidiary, Wesbanco Bank Inc.

With the closing of the merger, WesBanco appointed Zahid Afzal, John L. Bookmyer, Louis M. Altman and Lee J. Burdman, formerly directors of Premier, to the WesBanco board of directors.

The acquisition creates a regional financial services institution with approximately $27 billion in assets.

Former Premier Financial centers will continue operating under the Premier Bank name until customer and data conversion occurs in mid-May. At that time, all financial centers of the combined bank will be branded as WesBanco.

Premier Financial Corp., headquartered in Defiance, was the holding company for Premier Bank, headquartered in Youngstown. It used to be the Home Savings and Loan Co.