By ALLISSA KLINE
akline@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1612

A subsidiary of First Niagara Financial Group Inc. is digging into the Pennsylvania market with yet another insurance-company acquisition.

First Niagara Risk Management announced Dec. 1 that it is buying Banyan Consulting LLC for an undisclosed sum. The agency operates an office in Pittsburgh and Mechanicsburg, just west of Harrisburg. Its founders - William Hartz, Lawrence Cooney, Scott Fair and Lisa Rand - will take leadership jobs at First Niagara Risk Management and focus on building First Niagara's insurance presence in Pennsylvania.

"This acquisition solidifies our commitment to continue to expand our business through organic growth and selective acquisitions of high-performing insurance agencies within our two-state footprint," said First Niagara Risk Management CEO Joseph Teresi. "We are moving forward with our strategic plan to build our organization throughout our footprint."

This marks the third recent acquisition for the insurance subsidiary. It closed in November on a pair of agencies near Philadelphia, a few months after wrapping up a deal to purchase two agencies in western Pennsylvania. The subsidiary, which earned $43.9 million in revenues in 2009, will now employ more than 380 workers and operate more than 13 offices in two states.

Its parent, meanwhile, is in the middle of buying NewAlliance Bancshares Inc. in New Haven, Conn. The $1.5 billion cash and stock deal will add 88 branches in Connecticut and Massachusetts to First Niagara's bank network.

The bank first expanded into Pennsylvania in fall 2009 with the acquisition of 57 former National City Corp. branches in and around Pittsburgh. It acquired 83 Harleysville National Corp. branches near Philadelphia in spring 2010.

Its NewAlliance deal, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, is expected to close in April.

First Niagara is headquartered in Buffalo. It reported third-quarter net income of $45.6 million, or 22 cents per share, up from net income of $10.9 million, or 7 cents per share, for the same period in 2009.