PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia region’s local banking world got an economic jolt with the recent news of WSFS Bank’s plans to buy the iconic Bryn Mawr Trust for $1 billion.
Regulatory and shareholder approval of the deal is expected by the early part of the fourth quarter of this year.
The combined company would have some 2,500 employees, although Rodger Levenson, chairman, president and CEO of Delaware-based WSFS Financial Corp. and WSFS Bank, said he expects the number to shrink slightly after the two operations merge.
He said many of Bryn Mawr’s existing branches and headquarters will stay and be re-branded.
"The location there right next to the post office near the train station right in the heart of Bryn Mawr is just an iconic building. It’s an iconic inner location," Levenson explained. "So, we intend to keep that location open, as well as many of the other locations that they have up and down along the Main Line and other offices."
He said the new company is positioning itself to become a wealth management leader in the region.
"Bryn Mawr has a fantastic brand and reputation and franchise in the wealth management space," Levenson said. "WSFS has a very similar profile but we’ve really been at it less time than they have. Bryn Mawr has been doing it for decades and decades and decades."
He said there’s high interest in the region for such experience.
"Baby Boomers and Millennials are aging," Levenson said. "There’s lots of want and desire to have not just the products but the services around planning and other things."
Levenson said the deal is a win-win not just for the banks but for the region.
"Almost every single one of our people has spent their whole lives in this region," he explained. "We’re very focused here. We went to school here. We’ve chosen to raise our families here and we want to serve the communities here."
Levenson said it’s a culture that’s been building at WSFS since it bought the old Beneficial Bank in Philadelphia in 2019.
He said the purchase of Bryn Mawr helps WSFS achieve its goal of becoming a hometown bank contrasting its operations from the larger banks that operate here.
"We have all the products and services that they have to offer but we do it with a focus on a community and understanding of the community and access to decision makers," Levenson said.