Credit union targets $4B in assets with double mergers

LAKELAND — MidFlorida Credit Union, with $3.3 billion in assets, is the latest entry into the burgeoning credit union-buys-bank market, with a pair of new deals.

One is a merger with Ocala-based Community Bank & Trust of Florida, a $730 million-asset bank, according to a statement. The other is an acquisition of the Florida assets of First American Bank of Iowa, which are mostly in Southwest Florida, the release adds. After both deals close, pending regulatory approvals, the combined entity will boast $4 billion in assets, $3 billion in loans, 1,100 employees and 63 full-service branches. 

The MidFlorida-Community Bank & Trust tie-up is the largest such deal to date, the release states, including assets and trust assets. MidFlorida will establish a trust company to manage and geographically expand the trust service, while Community Bank & Trust President and CEO Hugh Dailey will be the credit union’s market president for North Florida. Financial terms of the merger weren’t disclosed.

“In many communities, credit unions are becoming the primary source for consumer and small business banking,” MidFlorida CEO Kevin Jones says in the release. “We hope to strategically acquire additional financial institutions in Florida to expand our affordable consumer and business services.”

First American Bank’s emphasis has been on the Naples and Cape Coral markets, handling both commercial and residential mortgage lending. “Naples is a great market with tremendous potential for MidFlorida,” First American Bank President John Fisher says in the statement. Terms of the purchase weren’t disclosed on that deal, either.

Boards of all the entities approved the deals. The acquisition of the Florida assets of First American Bank of Iowa is expected to close in November, while the merger with Community Bank & Trust of Florida is expected to close by year-end.