First Financial Bank to buy Carmel lender

First Financial Bank will buy Oak Street Holdings Corp., a Carmel financial services firm, for $110 million.

The move will widen the Cincinnati-based bank’s presence in Indiana.

In 2009, First Financial bought the Indiana assets of the failed Columbus-based Irwin Union Bank, giving it 12 bank branches in Central Indiana.

First Financial followed that deal by buying 22 Indianapolis-area branches from Flagstar Bank in 2011.

Under terms of the the Cincinnati bank’s newest Indiana purchase, Oak Street will keep it name and become a subsidiary of First Financial when the deal closes in about 30 days, the bank said Thursday. Oak Street President and CEO Rick Dennen will remain on the job and Oak Street’s 60 employees will be retained, said Claude Davis, chairman and CEO of First Financial.

Founded in 2003, Oak Street provides funding, lending, and servicing to insurance agents and brokers. It has $242 million in assets.

The acquisition gives First Financial, with $7.2 billion in assets, “a tremendous opportunity to expand and diversify our service offerings and also provide Oak Street’s team with the balance sheet and funding capacity necessary to continue to grow the business,” Davis said.

First Financial is not involved in insurance industry lending, so the deal gives the bank “another national lending platform,” he said. Davis said Oak Street’s revenues have grown by 20 percent annually in recent years.

Davis said his bank is “very comfortable with nationwide specialty lending. Our franchise finance business has more than $500 million in loans and contributes significantly to our success.”

Dennen said Oak Street officials “are thrilled to become part of First Financial Bank, one of the most respected community banks in the country. First Financial has an entrepreneurial culture and a nimble organization that will provide a very supportive environment.”

Oak Street’s majority owner is Angelo, Gordon and Co., a New York-based private investment advisory firm.

Call Star reporter Jeff Swiatek at (317)444-6483. Follow him on Twitter: @JeffSwiatek.