Citizens State Bank in Woodville, Texas, is selling one of its five branches to First Central Credit Union in Waco, Texas.
The $264 million-asset Citizens State announced Friday it had signed a purchase and assumption agreement with the $149 million-asset First Central to acquire the bank's branch in Marlin. Under the terms of the deal, First Central will acquire real estate, personal property, loans and other assets and liabilities tied to the branch — which recorded roughly $26.3 million of deposits and $3.7 million of loans at the end of the fourth quarter.
"We are pleased to announce that we have entered into an agreement to sell our Marlin banking office to FCCU as we seek to consolidate our branch footprint in furtherance of our continued effort to focus our resources on the Harris County and Tyler County markets," Harry J. Brooks, chairman, Citizens State's president and chief executive, said in a press release.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter.
"We welcome an opportunity that embraces our credit union's goal of financial inclusion. … This expansion into Marlin and surrounding communities with new products, services and technology will enhance the financial options for Falls Country residents," JoBetsy Tyler, First Central's president and chief executive, said in the release.
Credit union purchases of banks and related assets have increased over the last several years, with
Despite the rise in mergers and acquisitions, banking regulators and other lobbyists across the country have
"Trade associations exist to serve our members, and obviously there are individual banks that have decided it is in their best interest to sell to a credit union," Rose Oswald Poels, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Bankers Association, said in an earlier interview with American Banker. "But a primary focus of bank trade associations is to advocate for policies that are in the best interest of the industry as a whole at the state and federal level, which may not, in the end, benefit individual banks."
