Huntington Bank intends to close 107 branches in its combined eight-state Huntington and FirstMerit Bank footprint, according to notices filed by the company as part of merger applications filed with the Federal Reserve Bank and the Office of Comptroller of the Currency.

Huntington public relations director Brent Wilder said that about 1,000 branches will remain following the planned branch consolidation. The affected locations, which include 60 in Ohio and a couple dozen in Northeast Ohio specifically, are expected to close in the first quarter of 2017. Of the total closures, 77 belong to FirstMerit, Wilder said, with the remainder being Huntington locations. Wilder said it’s unclear how many people work at all the closing branches. However, he reiterated that Huntington stands by its claim that all affected employees will be offered some kind of job somewhere with the company — a promise first made by Huntington CEO Stephen Steinour. Columbus-based Huntington on Jan. 26 announced plans to acquire Akron-based FirstMerit in a deal valued at about $3.4 billion, or $8.80 a share. FirstMerit’s assets of $25.5 billion will combine with Huntington for a company just shy of $100 billion in assets, establishing the largest bank in Ohio by market share. The bank is expecting savings of 40% of FirstMerit’s expense base, with much of that coming in consolidation of back-office operations, Steinour has said. While the announced closures are expected to be the only ones proposed along with the merger, Wilder said the sale of other branches that would further reduce the branch network could be possible. “Any divestitures to comply with antitrust, regulators have not been determined yet,” he said. Wilder said he could not comment at this point what happens with all those closing facilities. The filings also pointed out that the main FirstMerit office at 106 S. Main St. in Akron will be converted to a Huntington branch.