F.N.B. to acquire Comm Bancorp

F.N.B. to acquire Comm Bancorp

hermitage, pa.

F.N.B. Corp., the parent company of First National Bank of Pennsylvania, has signed a merger agreement to acquire Comm Bancorp, the holding company of Community Bank and Trust, based in Clarks Summit, Pa. The acquisition provides F.N.B. Corp. with $642 million in total assets, including deposits and loans from Community Bank and Trust’s 15 branches in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The merger is part of F.N.B.’s strategy to expand into markets with long-term growth potential, Stephen Gurgovits, F.N.B. Corp.’s chief executive, said in the companies’ joint statement this week. The communities served by Comm Bancorp are well-positioned to benefit from the demographic and commercial trends associated with growing natural-gas development in the Marcellus Shale, he said.

The companies expect to complete the transaction in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Netflix to stream 3 studios’ movies

LOS ANGELES

Netflix Inc. will pay nearly $1 billion during the next five years for the online streaming rights to movies from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM in a deal that could help convert even more people to the idea of getting their entertainment piped over high-speed Internet connections.

The agreement announced Tuesday marks another breakthrough in Netflix’s bid to stock its online streaming library with more-compelling material so it can keep its subscription service relevant as on-demand video systems supplant its core business of renting DVDs through the mail.

Wages cut, Spanish road cops ease up

MADRID

Spanish traffic cops upset over a pay cut and other slights have found a new way to express their anger: slapping motorists’ wrists instead of writing them a ticket.

That protest against Spain’s economic and debt woes is raising concerns about whether road safety is being jeopardized in one of Europe’s top tourism destinations. The number of traffic deaths last weekend hit 29 — the highest so far this year.

In June, the first month after government salaries were reduced 5 percent as part of an austerity plan, the number of traffic tickets handed out by patrol officers fell by nearly 50 percent compared with the same period in 2009, according to figures from the Civil Guard highway department obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

Official numbers for July are not yet out, but news reports say the go-easy policy of letting people off with warnings rather than a fine has pressed on.

Vindicator staff/wire reports