Eagle in Montana pushes back bank deal's closing date

Eagle Bancorp Montana in Helena has pushed back the closing date of its pending purchase of First Community Bancorp in Glasgow, Mont. 

The $1.4 billion-asset Eagle said in a regulatory filing Friday that it now expects to complete the acquisition in the first quarter. The company originally forecast a fourth quarter closing. 

Eagle did not provide a reason for the new timeline. 

Eagle announced the $41.3 million deal in October.  

The deal is expected to be 12% accretive to Eagle’s 2022 earnings per share. It should take Eagle less than four years to earn back any dilution to its tangible book value.

Eagle plans to cut about a quarter of First Community’s annual noninterest expenses. The company expects to incur $4 million of merger-related expenses.