M&A Update: Farmers & Merchants to Buy Indiana Community Bank

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (F&M) is to acquire Ossian Financial Services, the holding company for Ossian State Bank, in a $20 million deal, the groups announced last month.

Ossian has two premises in northeast Indiana and approximately $122 million in assets, $58 million in loans, and $108 million in deposits.

Following completion of the deal, F&M will have 11 offices across Indiana, and total assets of approximately $2 billion.

The eventual price of the acquisition could be adjusted if Ossian’s equity capital falls below $12 million.

F&M said the Ossian deal was a “natural extension” of its community bank network and followed previous acquisitions of the Bank of Geneva in 2019 and Adams County Financial Resources in 2020.

Lars Eller, president and CEO of F&M, said Ossian “immediately enhances and complements our growing franchise in Northeast Indiana”.

David Morrison, president and CEO of Ossian State Bank, added: “F&M shares our customer-first culture and community-oriented values, and F&M is a logical and strong fit for our customers, employees, and communities.”

Elsewhere, Ohio-based Consumers National Bank is to acquire two branches of CFBank. The deal will see Consumers take on approximately $100 million worth of deposits from the Calcutta, Ohio and the drive-thru Wellsville, Ohio premises.

The transaction is scheduled to complete in the second quarter of 2021. According to a statement announcing the deal, Consumers will pay the net book value of the land, buildings, and associated assets, the par value of earning assets, plus a 1.75% deposit premium.

Once complete, Consumers’ total assets will be approximately  $850 million.

Tim O’Dell, president and CEO of CFBank, said the sale was in line with CFBank’s strategic business plan “to deploy capital into areas that yield the greatest opportunity to strengthen franchise value”.

Separately, Wisconsin-based Coulee Bank has agreed to acquire loans and deposits from the Golden Valley, Minnesota branch of BNC National Bank.

The transaction will add $16.5 million of deposits and $17.2 million of loans to Coulee Bank’s assets, according to a statement. Coulee Bank will service the loans and deposits out of its existing office in St Paul, Minnesota.

Dirk Gasterland, Coulee’s CEO, said the deal was “a great opportunity to expand Coulee Bank’s customer base and to meet the evolving financial needs of our customers today and future customers of tomorrow”.

BNC chairman  Michael Vekich  said his company would now focus on its core markets of  North Dakota  and  Arizona.

Meanwhile, members of the Minnesota-based Firefly Credit Union have voted in favor of a merger with TruStone Financial Credit Union. Full integration of the two companies will take place in March.

Following the combination, TruStone will have $3.4 billion in assets and nearly 200,000 members in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Finally, Bridge Bancorp’s merger with Dime Community Bancshares is set to complete on February 1 after the deal was approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services in late December.

The company also announced a 12-person board for the newly merged entity, consisting of six members from each merging bank. Kenneth Mahon, CEO of Dime, will be the merged group’s executive chairman. Bridge Bancorp’s Kevin O’Connor will be the new company’s CEO.

The transaction is expected to close in early-2021, subject to regulatory approvals.