CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The federal government said Tuesday that two central Illinois banks must sell five downstate branches to resolve antitrust issues related to their merger.

Holding companies First Busey Corp. and Main Street Trust Inc. announced a proposed merger in the fall and shareholders approved the deal in February. Combined, the two banks will have assets of $3.6 billion and $2.7 billion in deposits.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday it would approve the deal, provided the banks sell five Champaign County sites.

“These divestitures will ensure that consumers and businesses in the Champaign-Urbana area will continue to enjoy the benefits of competition for their commercial banking and retail banking services,” Thomas Barnett, an assistant attorney general who heads the department’s antitrust division, said in a statement.

The branches that will be sold are in Champaign, Urbana and Mahomet.

Busey is headquartered in Urbana, and has two wholly owned banking subsidiaries with locations in Illinois, Indiana and Florida. Main Street Trust is headquartered in Champaign and operates banking centers in downstate Illinois.

The merger must be approved by the Federal Reserve System ‘s board of governors, likely in the second quarter.