From the Daily Record.
QuoteVyStar Credit Union announced March 31 its second acquisition of a commercial bank in the last two years, agreeing to buy Jonesboro, Georgia-based Heritage Southeast Bank.
Heritage has 22 branches in the Atlanta, Savannah and Southeast Georgia markets.
Jacksonville-based Vystar said the acquisition will make it the 13th largest credit union in the country with 850,000 members, 88 branches and $12.5 billion in assets.
VyStar did not say how much it is paying to buy the Georgia bank, but Heritage said its shareholders will receive cash after its parent company's debt and other obligations are paid.
The Heritage deal follows VyStar's 2019 acquisition of Perry-based Citizens State Bank, which had four Florida branches.
VyStar CEO Brian Wolfburg said in a news release the credit union is searching for partnerships that can bring credit union membership to more people.
"HSB has exceeded our expectations as the optimal partner to help us expand our footprint and ensure financial services are accessible to more Georgia residents," he said.
VyStar expects to close the deal later this year.
Wow, pretty impressive. For some interesting context, it still wouldn't be in the top 100 if it was a bank, but for credit unions that's pretty impressive. I'm pretty happy to bank with them, personally.
Probably a stupid question, but I assume its entirely possible for a credit union to absorb a bank or merge together with one? It does sound like the Heritage Southeast name will cease eventually and all their branches will end up under the VyStar banner.
Quote from: landfall on April 01, 2021, 05:42:57 PM
Probably a stupid question, but I assume its entirely possible for a credit union to absorb a bank or merge together with one? It does sound like the Heritage Southeast name will cease eventually and all their branches will end up under the VyStar banner.
Yes, "bigger" credit unions have been purchasing banks for the last few years. We are in the midst of the consolidation phase with a lot of credit unions. This is the only way to grow and expand your territory in credit union world. 88 branches is a lot of branches for a regional credit union. It will be interesting to see their ROA and Net Worth ratios over the next 12 months.