** Shares of community lender ESSA Bancorp ESSA.O jump 9.5% to $20.39 premarket, while CNB Financial CCNE.O rises 1%
** CCNE will buy smaller peer ESSA in a $214 mln all-stock deal, the companies say, creating a combined bank with roughly $8 bln in total assets
** ESSA shareholders will receive 0.8547 shares of CCNE for each held, valuing ESSA at $20.61 per share based on CCNE's last close
** Deal represents 10.6% premium to ESSA's last close and is expected to close in Q3 2025
** Transaction bolsters CCNE's presence in greater Lehigh Valley and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre markets and is expected to boost bank's EPS by 35% in 2026
** ESSA CEO Gary Olson will join CCNE's board and also have a strategic advisor role
** ESSA's stock fell 2.6% in 2024 while CCNE jumped 10.1%
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)
((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))
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