WesBanco Inc., based in Wheeling, W.Va., completed its acquisition of Premier Financial Corp., the company announced Friday.

The holding company closing was followed by the merger of Premier’s subsidiary bank, Premier Bank, with and into Wesbanco’s banking subsidiary, Wesbanco Bank Inc.

With the closing of the merger, WesBanco appointed Zahid Afzal, John L. Bookmyer, Louis M. Altman and Lee J. Burdman, formerly directors of Premier, to the WesBanco board of directors.

“We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of this acquisition, which brings together two strong, community-focused institutions to create an even more dynamic regional bank well-positioned to support our customers’ unique financial journeys across their consumer, commercial and wealth management needs,” said Jeff Jackson, president and chief executive officer of WesBanco.

The acquisition creates a regional financial services institution with approximately $27 billion in assets.

The combined company is the 81st largest insured depository organization in the United States and the eighth largest bank in Ohio, based on deposit market share.

WesBanco now serves customers through more than 250 financial centers and loan production offices in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Former Premier Financial centers will continue operating under the Premier Bank name until customer and data conversion occurs in mid-May. At that time, all financial centers of the combined bank will be branded as WesBanco.

Premier Financial Corp., headquartered in Defiance, was the holding company for Premier Bank, headquartered in Youngstown. It used to be the Home Savings and Loan Co.