M&T Bank gets regulatory OK to buy Provident

Regional bank M&T Bank Corp. said Tuesday it has received regulatory approval for its proposed acquisition of Provident Bankshares Corp. and expects the deal to close by the end of this week.

Under terms of the agreement, Provident shareholders will receive 0.171625 shares of M&T Bank common stock in exchange for each share of Provident they own. Based on the closing price of M&T Bank's stock on Tuesday and the number of Provident shares outstanding as of May 1, the deal is valued at $300.2 million.

M&T Bank announced the acquisition in December of last year and Provident shareholders approved the deal in April.

M&T Bank has said it plans to lay off about 29 percent of Provident's employees after the merger, eliminating more than 500 jobs at the Baltimore-based bank.

Provident has 143 branches and $6.4 billion in assets.

The combination will enable Buffalo, N.Y.-based M&T Bank to grow its presence in the Maryland and Virginia areas, the bank has said. M&T Bank has roughly $65.8 billion in assets and operates more than 680 branches in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and the District of Columbia.

The bank is a recipient of government bailout funds totaling $600 million.

Provident shares jumped 55 cents, or 6.6 percent, to end regular trading Tuesday at $8.88. M&T Bank shares rose $2.51, or 5.2 percent, to close at $51.19.