Premier Financial CORP: management transactions · United States · SEC (Form 4)

About Premier Financial CORP

Premier Financial Corp. (“Premier” or “PFC”) was a U.S.-listed financial holding company traded on the NASDAQ under ticker PFC, headquartered in Defiance, Ohio, United States. The key recent market event is that Premier ceased to exist as an independent listed company after WesBanco completed its acquisition on February 28, 2025. For investors, that means the story is now best understood as the operating legacy of Premier and its integration into a larger regional banking platform. ([sec.gov](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946647/000095017025029956/pfc-20241231.htm?utm_source=openai)) Premier had evolved into a regionally focused community and commercial banking franchise serving retail customers, small businesses, and middle-market clients across the Midwest. Its historical footprint spanned Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, with a dense branch network and supporting loan and wealth offices. The company’s business model combined relationship banking, deposit gathering, commercial lending, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer credit, and wealth services. This made Premier a classic U.S. regional bank: locally anchored, diversified across several banking products, and highly sensitive to deposit competition and interest-rate conditions. ([sec.gov](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946647/000095017024022090/pfc-20231231.htm?utm_source=openai)) From a history standpoint, Premier grew through a mix of organic expansion and acquisitions. A notable milestone was the 2020 acquisition of United Community Financial Corp., which expanded its scale in Ohio and surrounding markets. In 2023, Premier also sold substantially all of the assets of its First Insurance business, signaling a sharper focus on core banking and balance-sheet-driven earnings. That strategic simplification fits a broader industry pattern among U.S. regional banks aiming to improve capital efficiency and reduce non-core complexity. ([sec.gov](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946647/000156459021012879/pfc-10k_20201231.htm?utm_source=openai)) In competitive terms, Premier was not a national megabank but a meaningful regional player with strong local market knowledge and a customer-service-oriented brand. Its competitive strengths were relationship banking, community presence, and a full-service product set delivered through banking centers, loan offices, and wealth offices. The company’s customer base was primarily small to mid-sized businesses and households, which positioned it well for local commercial banking but also exposed it to regional economic cycles and competitive pressure from larger banks, credit unions, and nonbank lenders. ([sec.gov](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/946647/000095017024022090/pfc-20231231.htm?utm_source=openai)) The most important recent development was the merger with WesBanco, announced in July 2024 and completed on February 28, 2025. WesBanco said the transaction created a larger regional financial services institution with significant scale benefits and broader geographic reach. As a result, Premier is now mainly relevant to investors as a case study in U.S. regional-bank consolidation rather than as a standalone NASDAQ equity story. ([wesbanco.com](https://www.wesbanco.com/news/wesbanco-inc-announces-transformative-merger-with-premier-financial-corp/?utm_source=openai))