The Federal Reserve issued an order approving the acquisition of Citizens Republic Bancorp by FirstMerit Corporation.

FirstMerit, which had announced the acquisition last September, was waiting for regulatory approval before consummating the transaction which is still subject to shareholder approval. Completion of the acquisition is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2013.

FirstMerit, a bank holding company operating in Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania, is the 76th biggest bank in the U.S. with $14.9 billion in total assets. Citizens Republic Bancorp is the holding company for Citizens Bank which has total assets of $9.6 billion and operates in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio.

After completion of the transaction, FirstMerit will become the 55th largest bank in the U.S. with $19 billion in deposits, $24 billion in total assets and $15 billion in loans. The combined banks will have over 5,000 employees working at 415 branches in the contiguous states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.