Heartland Financial in Dubuque, Iowa, has agreed to buy Community Bancorp. of New Mexico in Santa Fe.
The $6.1 billion-asset Heartland said in a press release Thursday that it will pay $11.3 million in cash for the parent of the $181 million-asset Community Bank. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.
Community Bank, which has branches in five New Mexico markets, will be merged into Heartland's New Mexico Bank & Trust unit. Heartland said it expects the transaction to be accretive to its earnings per share within the first full year of combined operations.
"We are excited about the prospect of expanding our New Mexico franchise," Lynn Fuller, Heartland's chairman and chief executive, said in the release. "Community Bank is an excellent fit for our community banking business model, and its locations match our desire to 'fill-in' attractive areas in or close to our existing geographies."
