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                                                                      Exhibit 99



FirstMerit Corporation Announces Completion of
Signal Corp Acquisition

AKRON, Ohio, Feb. 12 -- FirstMerit Corporation (Nasdaq:FMER) announced today the
completion of its acquisition of Signal Corp (Nasdaq: SGNL) of Wooster, Ohio,
first announced on August 11, 1998. The affiliates of the former Signal Corp,
Signal Bank, N.A. of Wooster, Ohio, Summit Bank, N.A. of Akron, Ohio and First
Federal Savings Bank of New Castle, Pennsylvania are now part of FirstMerit
Bank, N.A. Mobile Consultants, Inc. of Alliance, Ohio, which provides dealer
financing for manufactured housing to top-rated borrowers, became a subsidiary
of FirstMerit Corporation.

Gary G. Clark, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Signal Corp, joins
the FirstMerit Corporation Board of Directors.

"We are delighted to have completed this acquisition and with the combination,
FirstMerit increases its market dominance in several key Northeast Ohio
communities, holds the #1 market share position in Summit, Stark, Medina, Lorain
and Wayne counties, and enters Western Pennsylvania for the first time," said
John R. Cochran, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FirstMerit. "Customers
will have the added convenience of 177 banking offices and 224 automated teller
machines. Our unparalleled commitment to customers and local communities is now
enhanced by the completion of this transaction."

FirstMerit is a $9.1 billion holding company, headquartered in Akron, Ohio.
Principal wholly-owned subsidiaries include FirstMerit Bank, N.A., FirstMerit
Mortgage Corporation, FirstMerit Credit Life Insurance Company and FirstMerit
Community Development Corporation serving the following counties in Ohio:
Ashland, Ashtabula, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Erie, Franklin, Geauga, Huron,
Knox, Lake, Lorain, Madison, Medina, Portage, Richland, Seneca, Summit, Stark,
Wayne and Wood, and Lawrence County in Pennsylvania.