Saratoga Business Journal
By Paul Post
Glens Falls-based Arrow Financial Corp. expects to double its geographic territory with the proposed $89.1 million acquisition of Utica-based Adirondack Bancorp, which has 19 branch offices from the Mohawk Valley north to the Canadian border.
“Part of our strategic plan is mergers and acquisitions,” Arrow President and CEO Dave DeMarco said. “To continue to provide shareholder value in our business, you have to grow. We’re celebrating our 175th year. The timing couldn’t be better to find a willing partner to join forces.”
“We’ve been actively looking for a bank or banks that fit our mold, a community-based bank that looks, feels and acts like we do,” he said.
Adirondack Bancorp serves the same types of communities as Arrow, which makes the deal a good one culturally, DeMarco said.
But with $4.5 billion in assets, Arrow is much bigger than Adirondack ($942 million in total assets) and offers a broader range of services including wealth management and insurance. Based on financial results as of Dec. 31, 2025, the combined company would have pro forma total assets of $5.4 billion, total deposits of $4.8 billion and total gross loans of $4.1 billion.
When completed, the merger would make Arrow upstate New York’s fourth-largest community bank, ranked by assets.
The deal, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be finalized by the end of the second quarter. Under the terms of the agreement, Adirondack shareholders will receive a combination of stock and cash upon closing of the merger. Each outstanding share of Adirondack common stock will be converted into 1.8610 shares of Arrow common stock plus $18.72 in cash.
Based on the closing stock price of AROW common stock of $34.43 as of Feb. 25, 2026, the per-share implied consideration value is $82.79.
Arrow currently has 575 employees and 38 branches from Albany to Plattsburgh.
Adirondack Bank has 200 employees and offices in Oneida, Herkimer, Franklin, Clinton and Essex counties.
In January 2025, Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Co. and Saratoga National Bank and Trust Co. officially unified and rebranded as Arrow Bank. The merger combined the two Arrow Financial Corp. subsidiaries to streamline operations.
But it also gave the company a new identity, making it easier to enter new markets. “The new brand has been very well received,” DeMarco said. “This will continue that evolution of a growing bank. We want to get this one under our belt, close it, assimilate people and move forward with serving customers in their communities. At the same time we could continue to look for opportunities that make sense financially and culturally align with the way we do business.”
The Central New York market is especially attractive because of major economic development projects taking place there.
Last April, Chobani broke ground on a $1.2 billion plant in Oneida County that’s expected to create more than 1,000 new jobs. In addition, Micron is building a $100 billion, 1,400-acre “megafab” near Syracuse. This semiconductor facility is the largest private investment in New York history and will create 50,000 total jobs (9,000 direct) with construction of four facilities lasting until 2041.
Adirondack Bank branches will be rebranded to Arrow in the coming months.
“Much like we’ve done with our own company, we’ll be taking a look at branch optimization,” DeMarco said. “There might be a branch or two close to each other that we can consolidate into one.”
“The front customer-facing staff will all be retained,” he said. “In these types of mergers and acquisitions there is duplication of effort. So there will be some back room, support-type roles that will be eliminated. We’re evaluating what people do and we may have roles here at Arrow they could fill. We’ll be doing all we can to keep as many positions as possible.”
Rocco F. Arcuri Sr., Adirondack president and CEO, will stay with Arrow as regional president and will join the Arrow board of directors. “Aligning our two community banks will create a more robust organization equipped for the future while benefiting our customers who will have the local support they expect with access to more products, services and locations,” he said.
Unlike some much larger banks with a specialized customer base, Arrow strives to “meet all the financial needs that a community has,” DeMarco said. “We take care of individuals, small businesses, nonprofits and municipalities, and we try to support communities philanthropically and with volunteerism. That’s what makes us different. Adirondack Bank is just the same. It’s a perfect fit.”