Business Combinations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

3. BUSINESS COMBINATIONS

Beneficial Bancorp, Inc.

On March 1, 2019, we acquired Beneficial. Subject to the terms and conditions of the merger agreement, the Beneficial stockholders received 0.3013 shares of WSFS common stock and $2.93 in cash for each share of Beneficial common stock. Based on the February 28, 2019 closing share price of $43.28, the value of the stock consideration was $950.0 million and cash consideration was $228.2 million, for total transaction value of $1.2 billion. Results of the combined Company’s operations are included in our Consolidated Financial Statements since the date of the acquisition.

Beneficial conducted its primary business operations through its wholly owned subsidiary, Beneficial Bank, which was merged into WSFS Bank. At closing, Beneficial had 74 branches and offices in southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. WSFS acquired Beneficial to expand the scale and efficiency of its operations in the Philadelphia, southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey markets, and to create opportunities to generate additional revenue by providing its full suite of banking, mortgage banking, wealth management and insurance services to the legacy Beneficial markets.

The acquisition of Beneficial was accounted for as a business combination using the acquisition method of accounting and, accordingly, the assets acquired, liabilities assumed and consideration transferred were recorded at their estimated fair values as of the acquisition date. The excess of consideration transferred over the fair value of net assets acquired was recorded as goodwill, which is not amortizable nor deductible for tax purposes. The Company allocated the total balance of goodwill to its WSFS Bank segment. While the valuation of acquired assets and liabilities is nearly completed, management continues to assess the values of certain assets and liabilities which may be subject to adjustment as additional information is obtained about the facts and circumstances that existed at the acquisition date. The remeasurement period expired on February 29, 2020, one year from the closing date, and the Company does not expect any further material adjustments impacting the identified intangibles and goodwill. The fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed still under review for remeasurement adjustments after December 31, 2019 were related to taxes and operating leases.

The following table summarizes the consideration transferred and the fair values of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed:


(Dollars in thousands)
Consideration Transferred:	Fair Value
Common shares issued (21,816,355)	$	949,968
Cash paid to Beneficial stock and option holders	228,239
Value of consideration	1,178,207
Assets acquired:
Cash and due from banks	304,311
Investment securities	619,834
Loans and leases, net	3,711,246
Premises and equipment	69,873
Deferred income taxes	18,463
Bank owned life insurance	82,510
Core deposit intangible	85,053
Servicing rights intangible	2,466
Other assets	135,890
Total assets	5,029,646
Liabilities assumed:
Deposits	4,056,506

Other liabilities	101,754
Total liabilities	4,158,260
Net assets acquired:	871,386
Goodwill resulting from acquisition of Beneficial	$	306,821

The following table details the change to goodwill recorded subsequent to acquisition:


(Dollars in thousands)	Fair Value
Goodwill resulting from the acquisition of Beneficial reported as of March 31, 2019	$	309,486
Effects of adjustments to:
Cash and due from banks	246
Investment securities	(3,131)
Loans	911
Premises and equipment	(741)
Deferred income taxes	1,007
Other assets	(416)
Deposits	790
Other liabilities	(1,331)
Adjusted goodwill resulting from the acquisition of Beneficial as of December 31, 2019	$	306,821

In many cases, the fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed were determined by estimating the cash flows expected to result from those assets and liabilities and applying the appropriate market discount rates.

Acquired loans are initially recorded at their fair values as of the acquisition date. The fair value is based on a discounted cash flow methodology that uses assumptions as to credit risk, default rates, collateral values, discount rates and loss severity, along with estimated prepayment rates. Loans that have deteriorated in credit quality since their origination, and for which it is probable that all contractual cash flows will not be received, are accounted for in accordance with ASC 310-30. For additional information regarding purchased impaired loans, see Note 7 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

The acquired investment portfolio had a fair value of $619.8 million, of which $578.8 million of investment securities were sold subsequent to closing. The proceeds received for the investments sold approximated their fair values as of the acquisition date. The fair value of the retained investment portfolio was determined by taking into account market prices obtained from independent valuation source(s). See Note 19 for additional information.

The Company recorded a deferred income tax asset (DTA) of $18.5 million related to tax attributes of Beneficial along with the effects of fair value adjustments resulting from acquisition accounting for the combination.

WSFS recorded $85.1 million of core deposit intangible which is being amortized over 10 years using a straight-line amortization methodology. The fair value of the core deposit intangible was determined using the cost savings approach. The cost savings approach is defined as the difference between cost of funds on deposits and the cost of an equal amount of funds from an alternative source. The CDI fair value was determined by projecting net cash flow benefits, including assumptions related to customer attrition, discount rates, deposit interest rates, and alternative costs of funds.

Certificates of deposit accounts were valued by segregating the portfolio into pools based on remaining maturity and comparing the contractual cost of the portfolio to an identical portfolio bearing current market rates. The valuation adjustment will be accreted or amortized to interest expense over the remaining maturities of the respective pools.

As a result of the merger, the Company developed a comprehensive integration plan under which we have incurred direct costs, which were expensed as incurred. These direct costs include costs related to: (i) terminated contracts, (ii) consolidated facilities (including lease termination expenses), (iii) severance, (iv) marketing, and (v) professional and legal fees. Costs related to the acquisition and restructuring are included in the Corporate Development and Restructuring expense line items, respectively, on the Consolidated Statements of Income.

During the fourth quarter of 2018, WSFS announced a retail banking office optimization plan that included the consolidation of fourteen Beneficial and eleven WSFS Bank banking offices. Most of the consolidations and rebranding of the remaining Beneficial banking offices were completed during the conversion, which occurred during the third quarter of 2019. Costs related to this plan are included in the Corporate Development and Restructuring expense line items on the Consolidated Statements of Income. Additionally, during the second quarter of 2019, WSFS completed the sale of five legacy Beneficial retail banking offices in New Jersey to the Bank of Princeton, a New Jersey-based financial institution, at a deposit premium of 7.37%.