Chemical to buy Talmer

Chemical Financial Corp., Midland, Mich., will buy Talmer Bancorp., Troy, Mich., for $1.1 billion..Chemical CEO and President David B. Ramaker will continue in those roles for the combined holding company and as chairman, president and CEO of Chemical Bank. David T. Provost, Talmer's president and CEO and chairman of Talmer Bank, will join the Chemical board of directors. Talmer Chairman Gary Torgow will serve as chairman of the holding company board following the merger..After the deal closes in the second half of the year, the combined organization will have $16 billion in assets, $12 billion in loans and $13 billion in deposits with 266 locations primarily in Michigan and northeast Ohio, according to balance sheets as of Dec. 31.."This is clearly a transformational merger between two healthy Michigan banks with complementary geographies," Ramaker said. "Through this partnership, we will make a marked entry into the southeast Michigan market, and expand for the first time beyond our state's borders…[Talmer's] operations in northern Ohio and other contiguous states should position us well for future growth in those markets in the years ahead.".The merger will create the largest bank headquartered in Michigan, Chemical said in a release. Combined Michigan deposits of $10.8 billion would make it the sixth-largest by deposit share, and the only state-headquartered bank of those six..Chemical was advised by the investment banking firm of Sandler O'Neill + Partners and the law firm of Warner Norcross & Judd LLP. Talmer was advised by the investment banking firm of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP.