Nicolet Bankshares has reached an agreement to purchase Commerce Financial Holdings and its wholly-owned subsidiary Commerce State Bank for nearly $129.6m.
The merged entity is expected to have total assets of $4.3bn, deposits of $3.6bn, and loans of $3.2bn based on the financial results of the fourth quarter of last year.
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Under the terms of the deal, Nicolet will acquire Commerce and Nicolet will be the surviving company.
Commerce shareholders will receive 1.15 shares of Nicolet common stock for each share of Commerce stock held.
Upon the completion of the transaction, Commerce Bank will operate under the brand name of Nicolet National Bank.
Nicolet National Bank president and CEO Mike Daniels said: “Both Nicolet and Commerce are entrepreneurial organisations that know what it’s like to build a business from scratch.
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By GlobalData“This quality allows us to relate to each other and our customers, and will be a driving force as we move toward integrating our two cultures in the coming quarters.”
The deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both the companies.
Nicolet chairman and CEO Bob Atwell said: “When we combine our resources and cultures, we can positively impact the community banking landscape of Wisconsin.
Commerce CEO Joe Fazio said: “We have known Nicolet for a long time and we like their reputation for doing things the right way.
“We are going to leverage the combined strengths of Commerce and Nicolet, which are our people and relationship-focused attitudes, to accelerate our growth.
Fazio will join the Board of Directors of Nicolet Bankshares and Nicolet National Bank after the merger.
Tom Hopp and Dave Borchardt, Commerce’s president and CFO/COO, respectively, will join Nicolet National Bank.
Subject to receipt of regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year.
