First Niagara Risk Management to Purchase Hatch Leonard Naples

First Niagara Risk Management Inc., the wholly-owned insurance subsidiary of First Niagara Bank and its parent First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Hatch Leonard Naples Inc. the largest insurance agency in Rochester
and among the top agencies in Buffalo and Syracuse.

Following the completion of the transaction, Hatch Leonard Naples will merge with First Niagara Risk Management to create one of upstate New York’s largest insurance agencies. The acquisition is expected to close July 31, 2005.

Similar to First Niagara, Hatch Leonard Naples specializes in commercial insurance, surety bonds, workers’ compensation, employee benefits and personal insurance.

At the close of the transaction, Hatch Leonard Naples will be
merged with First Niagara Risk Management. The combined agency will operate under the direction of current Hatch Leonard Naples’ CEO,
Gerard Wenzke. First Niagara Risk Management Chief Executive Officer, John Hoffman, will become the chairman of the agency’s board of directors.

Hatch Leonard Naples was established in 1910 and serves more than 1,100 businesses and 4,000 individuals throughout Upstate New York. Its offices are located in Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany and Plattsburgh. The agency’s revenue in 2004 exceeded $17 million.

First Niagara Risk Management’s product line includes personal and
commercial insurance, surety bonds, risk management, employee benefits and administration and life, disability and long-term care coverage.

Current annual revenue exceeds $22 million and the agency has office locations that stretch across the state including Buffalo, Newfane, Rochester, Ithaca, Hudson and Albany.