Partners Trust Financial Group Stockholders Vote to Approve Agreement With M&

The merger is expected to close promptly after the receipt of all requiredregulatory approvals.

Partners Trust Financial Group, Inc., headquartered in Utica, New York, isthe holding company for Partners Trust Bank, which was founded in 1839.Partners Trust Bank offers a wide variety of business and retail bankingproducts as well as a full range of investment and municipal banking servicesthrough its 33 Central and Southern New York locations in Oneida, Onondaga,Herkimer, Broome, Tioga and Chenango counties. Customers' banking needs areserviced 24 hours a day through a network of ATMs, automated telephone banking,and through the convenience of internet banking at its website,. M&T Bank Corporation, headquartered in Buffalo, NewYork, is a bank holding company whose banking subsidiaries, M&T Bank and M&TBank, National Association, operate branch offices in New York, Pennsylvania,Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and the District ofColumbia. M&T Bank operates 600 branches and 1,600 ATMs, with more than 250branches and nearly 500 ATMs located in New York State.

    Contact: Partners Trust Financial Group, Inc.    John Zawadzki, President & CEO 315-738-4778    Steven A. Covert, Senior Executive VP & COO 315-738-4993    Amie Estrella, Senior VP, CFO and Corporate Secretary 315-731-5487

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements contained in this press release that are not statementsof historical fact constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning ofthe Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"),notwithstanding that such statements are not specifically identified. Inaddition, certain statements may be contained in the future filings of M&Twith the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), in press releases and inoral and written statements made by or with the approval of M&T that are notstatements of historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements withinthe meaning of the Act. Examples of forward-looking statements include, butare not limited to: (i) statements about the benefits of the merger betweenM&T and Partners Trust, including future financial and operating results, costsavings, enhanced revenues and accretion to reported earnings that may berealized from the merger; (ii) statements of plans, objectives andexpectations of M&T or Partners Trust or their managements or Boards ofDirectors; (iii) statements of future economic performance; and (iv)statements of assumptions underlying such statements. Words such as"believes," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "targeted," "continue,""remain," "will," "should," "may" and other similar expressions are intendedto identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means ofidentifying such statements.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance andinvolve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult topredict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially fromwhat is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Factorsthat could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) the risk that thebusinesses of M&T and Partners Trust will not be integrated successfully orsuch integration may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected;(ii) expected revenue synergies and cost savings from the merger may not befully realized or realized within the expected time frame; (iii) revenuesfollowing the merger may be lower than expected; (iv) deposit attrition,operating costs, customer loss and business disruption following the merger,including, without limitation, difficulties in maintaining relationships withemployees, may be greater than expected; (v) the ability to obtaingovernmental approvals of the merger on the proposed terms and schedule; (vi)local, regional, national and international economic conditions and the impactthey may have on M&T and Partners Trust and their customers and M&T's andPartners Trust's assessment of that impact; (vii) changes in interest rates,spreads on earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities, and interest ratesensitivity; (viii) prepayment speeds, loan originations and credit losses;(ix) sources of liquidity; (x) M&T's common shares outstanding and commonstock price volatility; (xi) fair value of and number of stock-basedcompensation awards to be issued in future periods; (xii) legislationaffecting the financial services industry as a whole, and/or M&T and PartnersTrust and their subsidiaries individually or collectively; (xiii) regulatorysupervision and oversight, including required capital levels; (xiv) increasingprice and product/service competition by competitors, including new entrants;(xv) rapid technological developments and changes; (xvi) M&T's ability tocontinue to introduce competitive new products and services on a timely, cost-effective basis; (xvii) the mix of products/services; (xiii) containing costsand expenses; (xix) governmental and public policy changes; (xx) protectionand validity of intellectual property rights; (xxi) reliance on largecustomers; (xxii) technological, implementation and cost/financial risks inlarge, multi-year contracts; (xxiii) the outcome of pending and futurelitigation and governmental proceedings; (xxiv) continued availability offinancing; (xxv) financial resources in the amounts, at the times and on theterms required to support M&T's future businesses; and (xxvi) materialdifferences in the actual financial results of merger and acquisitionactivities compared with M&T's expectations, including the full realization ofanticipated cost savings and revenue enhancements. Additional factors thatcould cause M&T's results to differ materially from those described in theforward-looking statements can be found in M&T's Annual Reports on Form 10-K,Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with theSEC. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning theproposed transaction or other matters and attributable to M&T or PartnersTrust or any person acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in theirentirety by the cautionary statements referenced above. Forward-lookingstatements speak only as of the date on which such statements are made. M&Tand Partners Trust undertake no obligation to update any forward-lookingstatement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which suchstatement is made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Additional Information:

In connection with the proposed merger, M&T has filed with the SEC aRegistration Statement on Form S-4 (File No. 333-146132) that includes a ProxyStatement of Partners Trust and a Prospectus of M&T, as well as other relevantdocuments concerning the proposed transaction. Stockholders are urged to readthe Registration Statement and the Proxy Statement/Prospectus regarding themerger and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, as well as anyamendments or supplements to those documents, because they will containimportant information. You may obtain a free copy of the ProxyStatement/Prospectus, as well as other filings containing information aboutM&T and Partners Trust at the SEC's Internet site (). Youwill also be able to obtain these documents, free of charge, at under the tab "About Us" and then under the heading"Investor Relations" and then under "SEC Filings." Copies of the ProxyStatement/Prospectus and the SEC filings that are and will be incorporated byreference in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus can also be obtained, free ofcharge, by directing a request to Investor Relations, One M&T Plaza, Buffalo,New York 14203, (716) 842-5138.