Mercantile Bank and Eastern Michigan Financial receive approval for merger

Mercantile Bank (MBWM) and Eastern Michigan Financial Corporation jointly announced that the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has approved the proposed merger of Mercantile and Eastern. As previously announced, Mercantile and Eastern entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, pursuant to which Eastern will merge with and into Shamrock Merger Sub, a wholly-owned acquisition subsidiary of Mercantile, with the Merger Sub as the surviving entity. Immediately thereafter, Merger Sub will be merged upstream into Mercantile, with Mercantile as the surviving entity. Following the Merger, Mercantile will operate for a period of time as a two-bank holding company. The newly acquired Eastern Michigan Bank will operate alongside Mercantile’s existing bank, Mercantile Bank, until the first quarter of 2027, at which time Mercantile plans to consolidate Eastern Michigan Bank into Mercantile Bank, subject to regulatory approvals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services. All required regulatory approvals to complete the Mercantile-Eastern merger have now been received. Subject to Eastern shareholder approval and the satisfaction of remaining customary closing conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, the Merger is currently expected to be completed on December 31.