SmartFinancial to transfer Virginia branch to First Bank
SmartFinancial in Knoxville, Tenn., has sold a loan portfolio and other assets to First Bank in Strasburg, Va. The $3.7 billion-asset SmartFinancial said in a press release Thursday that it will also transfer the lease to a branch in Richmond, Va., to First Bank in the fourth quarter. First Bank acquired $83 million of loans. […]
First Financial in Indiana to close nine branches
First Financial in Terre Haute, Ind., plans to close about 10% of its branches over the next two quarters. The $4.8 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that it will shutter nine locations. It closed another branch earlier this year. “Our customers are rapidly adopting our online banking platforms which provides us with […]
First Citizens, CIT extend deadline to close $2.2B merger
First Citizens BancShares in Raleigh, N.C., and CIT Group in New York have extended the deadline for their proposed merger from Oct. 15 to March 1. The $55.2 billion-asset First Citizens said in a press release that it is still waiting on approval from the Federal Reserve. The Office of the North Carolina Commissioner of […]
BancPlus extending reach in New Orleans with deal
BancPlus in Ridgeland, Miss., has agreed to buy First Trust in New Orleans. The $5.1 billion-asset BancPlus said in a press release Wednesday that it expects to complete the purchase of the $1.3 billion-asset First Trust in the first quarter. It did not disclose the price it will pay. First Trust has 14 branches, $1.2 […]
Southern Missouri Bancorp to enter St. Louis via deal
Southern Missouri Bancorp in Poplar Bluff, Mo., will enter the St. Louis market with an agreement to buy Fortune Financial in Arnold, Mo. The $2.7 billion-asset Southern Missouri said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $29.9 million for the $254 million-asset parent of FortuneBank. Southern Missouri will also assume about $7.5 million […]
MainStreet in Va. taps exec to run new BaaS division
MainStreet Bancshares in Fairfax., Va., has promoted an insider to run its newly formed Banking as a Service division. The $1.7 billion-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that Todd Youngren had become president of Avenu, a division of its bank that looks to provide services to fintechs. Youngrens previously served as managing director […]
First Financial in Indiana to merge bank subsidiaries
First Financial in Terre Haute, Ind., is planning to combine its two banking units. The $4.8 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that it will merge The Morris Plan Company of Terre Haute into First Financial Bank on Dec. 31. First Financial said the move will result in increased efficiencies, beginning in the […]
Bank of Marin CEO to retire in October
Bank of Marin Bancorp in Novato, Calif., will have a new CEO in November. The $4 billion-asset company said in a press release Friday that Tim Myers, its president and chief operating officer, will succeed Russell Colombo, who is retiring on Oct. 31. Myers will also join the company’s board. Colombo has been CEO for […]
Primis in Va. to sell minority stake in mortgage lender
Primis Financial in McLean, Va., has agreed to sell its minority stake in Southern Trust Mortgage. The $3.4 billion-asset Primis said in a press release Thursday that it expects to record a pretax charge of $2.9 million in the third quarter tied to the sale. Primis also said it will not longer accrue earnings tied […]
HarborOne buying four Boston-area branch locations
HarborOne Bancorp in Brockton, Mass., has agreed to buy four branches in Massachusetts from Independent Bank in Rockland, Mass. The $4.6 billion-asset HarborOne said in a press release Thursday that it will buy the leases to branches that had belonged to East Boston Savings Bank, which Independent is set to buy later this year. HarborOne […]
Valley National in N.Y. to buy Bank Leumi USA for $1.1B
Valley National Bancorp in New York has agreed to buy Bank Leumi USA in New York. The $41 billion-asset Valley said in a press release Thursday that it will pay Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M. about $1.2 billion in cash and stock for the $8.4 billion-asset Bank Leumi. The deal, which is expected to close in the first […]
Florida de novo bank effort secures FDIC approval
Waterfall Bank, a de novo proposed for Clearwater, Fla., has secured conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Organizers still need to raise $45 million before opening the bank, according to the FDIC’s Sept. 8 order. The group behind Waterfall Bank applied with the FDIC in December. The bank would be based in the […]
Amalgamated in N.Y. entering Chicago with acquisition
Amalgamated Financial in New York will enter Chicago with an agreement to buy Amalgamated Bank. The $6.6 billion-asset Amalgamated Financial said in a press release Wednesday that it will pay $98.1 million in cash, including an earnout of up to $1.1 million, for the $950 million-asset Amalgamated Bank. The deal is expected to close by […]
Veritex in Dallas to buy ag lender North Avenue
Veritex Holdings in Dallas has agreed to buy North Avenue Capital in Ponte Vedra, Fla. The $9.3 billion-asset Veritex said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $57.5 million in cash for the government-guaranteed lender. Three years after the deal closes, North Avenue has the right, subject to adjustment, to receive another $5 […]
Chase buys college financial-planning platform Frank
JPMorgan Chase in New York has acquired Frank, a college financial-planning platform. The $3.7 trillion-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that Frank serves more than five million students at more than 6,000 higher education institutions. It did not disclose the price it paid. “We want to build lifelong relationships with our customers,” Jennifer […]
‘The Girl Banker’ joins Citizens Bank of Edmond in impact role
Natalie Bartholomew has been named chief impact officer at Citizens Bank of Edmond in Oklahoma. Bartholomew recently served as chief administrative officer at Grand Savings Bank in Grove, Okla. She is well-known in banking circles for creating The Girl Banker, a blog that promotes women leaders in the industry. “Over the last 20 years of […]
German American makes bigger Ky. push with deal
German American Bancorp in Jasper, Ind., has agreed to buy Citizens Union Bancorp of Shelbyville in Kentucky. The $5.3 billion-asset German American said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $154 million in cash and stock for the $1.1 billion-asset Citizens Union. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter, […]
U.S. Bancorp to buy MUFG Union Bank for $8 billion
U.S. Bancorp in Minneapolis has agreed to buy MUFG Union Bank in San Francisco. The $559 billion-asset U.S. Bancorp said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $8 billion in cash and stock to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group for the $133 billion-asset MUFG Union Bank. The deal, which is expected to close in […]
MUFG Union hit with consent order tied to IT oversight
MUFG Union Bank has entered into a consent order with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. MUFG Americas Holding, the $133 billion-asset bank’s parent company, disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that the Sept. 20 order is tied to “deficiencies in Union Bank’s technology and operational risk management.” MUFG Americas is part of […]
Alerus in N.D. taps CFO to be its next leader
Alerus Financial in Grand Forks, N.D., will have a new CEO in 2022. The $3.2 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that Katie Lorenson, its chief financial officer, will also become president on Jan. 1. She will also join the board. Lorenson will succeed Randy Newman, who will transition to the role of […]
How the Citizens-Investors merger coalesced
Investors Bancorp in Short Hills, N.J., had “substantive negotiations” with another bank months before agreeing to be sold to Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I. The $27 billion-asset Investors agreed in July to sell to the $185 billion-asset Citizens for $3.5 billion. Investors, however, held discussions with another bank in its market in early 2019, […]
Truist backs FDIC effort to aid mission-driven banks
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which investment support from Truist Financial and Microsoft, is launching a fund supporting minority depository institutions and community development financial institutions. The agency said in a press release Thursday that the Mission-Driven Bank Fund has $120 million in initial commitments. Truist and Microsoft are leading the investment fund, while Discovery […]
First Interstate, Great Western announce $2B merger
First Interstate BancSystem in Billings, Mont., has agreed to buy Great Western Bancorp in Sioux Falls, S.D. The $18.9 billion-asset First Interstate said in a press release Thursday that it will pay $2 billion in stock for the $13 billion-asset Great Western. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter. “This is a […]
Republic Bancorp in Kentucky taps new bank CEO
Republic Bancorp in Louisville, Ky., will have a new bank CEO next month. The $6.2 billion-asset company said in a press release Wednesday that Logan Pichel will succeed Steve Trager as CEO of Republic Bank on Oct. 1. Pichtel, who will remain the bank’s president, has also joined the company’s board. Trager will remain chairman […]
Goldman Sachs to buy point-of-sale lender GreenSky
Goldman Sachs Group in New York has agreed to buy point-of-sale lender GreenSky for roughly $2.2 billion. The deal is expected to close by the first quarter of 2022. GreenSky offers payment plans to customers who are planning home-improvement projects or have health care costs. Banks use the company’s technology to make loans to super-prime […]