Newburgh, Indiana-based Heritage Federal Credit Union is acquiring the branches of The Elberfeld State Bank, the institutions announced, raising the number of deals this year in which a credit union has bought a bank to four in total.
The deal, which is subject to approval by regulators and Elberfeld shareholders, is expected to close during the first quarter of 2021. Neither institution disclosed the purchase price.
Including the Heritage-Elberfeld deal, the number of credit union-bank tie-ups so far this year stands at half what it was by this point in 2019, according to American Banker. The pace of such transactions had been accelerating — 16 were announced last year, compared with nine in 2018 — but trade groups such as the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) have pushed back against the trend.
