First Financial Bancorp Announces the Purchase of 17 Banking Centers From Peoples...

First Financial Bancorp Announces the Purchase of 17 Banking Centers From
Peoples Community Bank

-- Accelerates growth strategy in the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan
Market

-- Expands franchise in existing and contiguous markets

-- Increases deposit base by approximately $310 million and adds
approximately $260 million in performing business and consumer loans

-- Enhances First Financial's deposit market share position in Cincinnati
region

CINCINNATI, May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- First Financial Bancorp (Nasdaq:
FFBC) announced today that First Financial Bank, N.A., its wholly-owned
subsidiary bank, has signed a purchase and assumption agreement with Peoples
Community Bank, the subsidiary bank of Peoples Community Bancorp (Nasdaq:
PCBI), to acquire 17 of their banking centers located in southwestern Ohio and
southeastern Indiana. Under the terms of the purchase and assumption
agreement, First Financial Bank will assume approximately $310 million in
deposits and acquire approximately $260 million of select performing business
and consumer loans. The proposed transaction, which is subject to regulatory
approval, will enhance First Financial's deposit market share position within
the Greater Cincinnati region. It is targeted to close in the third quarter of
2009 and is anticipated to add up to approximately $0.06 per share on a cash
basis in the first full year, 2010.

Following the closing of the proposed transaction, Peoples Community Bank will
continue to operate two banking centers in Lebanon, Ohio and will retain
approximately $325 million in assets.

"The addition of these banking centers is a natural extension of our existing
network and presents an excellent opportunity to extend First Financial Bank
products and services to a larger client base," said Claude Davis, president
and chief executive officer of First Financial Bancorp. "It is a continuation
of our decision to significantly expand our Cincinnati presence. This purchase
increases the number of First Financial branches in the Cincinnati MSA by 50%
advancing our growth plans by several years."

The purchase of these 17 banking centers is aligned with First Financial's
growth strategy of expanding its presence in both existing and adjacent
markets. First Financial opened a new banking center in Madeira, Ohio, in the
first quarter of 2009, and recently announced plans to build in Edgewood,
Kentucky. Both locations are part of the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan
market. Upon closing of the proposed transaction, First Financial Bank clients
will have account access across a three-state banking center network,
including nearly 100 First Financial Bank locations and ATMs.

At March 31, 2009, First Financial was considered well-capitalized under
applicable regulatory capital guidelines, and expects to remain
well-capitalized under such standards upon completion of the transaction.

The transaction has received approvals from the boards of directors of both
companies, and remains subject to regulatory approval, further due diligence,
and other customary closing conditions. No shareholder approvals are required.

Under the terms of the agreement, First Financial will purchase 13 Peoples
Community Bank banking centers in Ohio, including 8 in Hamilton County, 3 in
Butler County and 2 in Warren County. In Indiana, the company will purchase 4
banking centers, including 3 in Dearborn County and 1 in Ohio County. Included
with these banking centers are approximately $310 million in deposits and
approximately $260 million in loans. The balances of the loans to be acquired
and deposits to be assumed are as of March 31, 2009. The majority of the
loans to be acquired consist of residential real estate loans and none of the
loans to be acquired are land acquisition, development, construction,
commercial, builder and residential lot, or stock loans. No loans to be
acquired are, or will be more than 30 days delinquent. The total purchase
price of the transaction is expected to be approximately $12 million, which is
a deposit premium of approximately 4%.

The acquired Peoples Community Bank banking centers will operate under the
First Financial Bank name immediately after the transaction closes. First
Financial expects to offer positions to Peoples Community Bank associates of
the banking centers being acquired. The Peoples Community Bank banking centers
included in the proposed transaction are:

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090518/CL18319 )

Southwestern Ohio
(Greater Cincinnati)
North
-- Liberty Drive - Liberty Township
-- Arbor Square - Mason
-- Voice of America Drive - West Chester
-- West Chester Road - West Chester

-- River's Bend/State Route 48 - Maineville

North Central
-- Blue Ash Road - Deer Park
-- Montgomery Road - Montgomery
-- Hamilton Avenue - Mount Healthy

-- Springdale Road - Northgate

East

-- Marburg Avenue - Oakley

West
-- Bridgetown Road - Bridgetown
-- State Route 128 - Cleves

-- Harrison Avenue - Dent

Southeastern Indiana

-- Importing Street - Aurora
-- State Line Road - Bright
-- Walnut Street - Lawrenceburg

-- Industrial Access Road - Rising Sun

First Financial was advised by the investment banking firm of Sandler O'Neill
+ Partners, L.P. and Manatt Phelps & Phillips served as legal counsel.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release should be read in conjunction with the consolidated
financial statements, notes and tables in First Financial Bancorp's most
recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008.
Management's analysis contains forward-looking statements that are provided to
assist in the understanding of anticipated future financial performance.
However, such performance involves risk and uncertainties that may cause
actual results to differ materially. Factors that could cause actual results
to differ from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include, but
are not limited to, management's ability to effectively execute its business
plan; the risk that the strength of the United States economy in general and
the strength of the local economies in which First Financial conducts
operations continue to deteriorate, resulting in, among other things, a
deterioration in credit quality or a reduced demand for credit, including the
resultant effect on First Financial's loan portfolio, allowance for loan and
lease losses and overall financial purpose; the ability of financial
institutions to access sources of liquidity at a reasonable cost; the impact
of recent upheaval in the financial markets and the effectiveness of domestic
and international governmental actions taken in response, such as the U.S.
Treasury's TARP and the FDIC's Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program, and the
effect of such governmental actions on First Financial, its competitors and
counterparties, financial markets generally and availability of credit
specifically, and the U.S. and international economies, including potentially
higher FDIC premiums arising from participation in the Temporary Liquidity
Guarantee Program or from increased payments from FDIC insurance funds as a
result of depository institution failures; the effects of and changes in
policies and laws of regulatory agencies, inflation, and interest rates;
technology changes; mergers and acquisitions; including our ability to
successfully integrate the branches which are being acquired from Peoples
Community Bank; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices;
adverse changes in the securities and debt markets; First Financial's success
in recruiting and retaining the necessary personnel to support business growth
and expansion and maintain sufficient expertise to support increasingly
complex products and services; the cost and effects of litigation and of
unexpected or adverse outcomes in such litigation; uncertainties arising from
First Financial's participation in the TARP, including impacts on employee
recruitment and retention and other business practices, and uncertainties
concerning the potential redemption of the U.S. Treasury's preferred stock
investment under the program, including the timing of, regulatory approvals
for, and conditions placed upon, any such redemption; and First Financial's
success at managing the risks involved in the foregoing. For further
discussion of certain factors that may cause such forward-looking statements
to differ materially from actual results, refer to the 2008 Form 10-K and
other public documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC), as well as the most recent Form 10-Q filing for the quarter ended March
31, 2009. These documents are available at no cost within the investor
relations section of First Financial's website at www.bankatfirst.com/investor
and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

About First Financial Bancorp
First Financial Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio based bank holding company with
$3.8 billion in assets. Its banking subsidiary, First Financial Bank, N.A.,
founded in 1863, provides retail and commercial banking products and services,
and investment and insurance products through its 82 retail banking locations
in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The bank's wealth management division, First
Financial Wealth Resource Group, provides investment management, traditional
trust, brokerage, private banking, and insurance services, and has
approximately $1.6 billion in assets under management. Additional information
about the company, including its products, services, and banking locations, is
available at www.bankatfirst.com/investor.

SOURCE First Financial Bancorp

Investors/Analysts, Patti Forsythe, Vice President, Investor Relations,
+1-513-979-5837, patti.forsythe@bankatfirst.com; or Media, Cheryl Lipp, First
Vice President, Marketing Director, +1-513-979-5797,
cheryl.lipp@bankatfirst.com, both of First Financial Bancorp