STRATEGIC PARTNERS
March 6, 2002
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. -- The NYCE Networkwill gain 500 ATMs and 180,000 ATM/debit cards, as well as a presence in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, through the recently announced merger of Buffalo-based M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB) and Harrisburg, Penn.-based Keystone Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: KSTN).
The merged institutions will form a regional banking franchise with more than 450 branches and 968 ATMs in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. M&T, which has been a NYCE Network participant since 1992, will become the 29th-largest independent banking company in the U.S., with pro forma combined assets of approximately $30 billion as of June 30, 2000.
"We are methodically growing outward from our historical base into new service areas so that more constituents can realize greater value in the network -- which itself becomes increasingly valuable as it expands," said NYCE Senior Vice President James S. Judd.
