The proposed merger between two of New Mexico's largest credit unions was called off, according to a prepared statement released July 28 by the boards of directors.
In October, New Mexico's fourth largest credit union by assets, the $783 million Kirtland Federal Credit Union, announced it intended to consolidate with the $2.4 billion Sandia Laboratory Federal Credit Union, the state's largest credit union by assets.
After a 10-month due diligence process, both boards said it was "best to end merger discussions" between the Albuquerque-based credit unions.
The prepared statement also announced that David Seeley, president/CEO of Kirtland, plans to retire in March 2018 after 28 years of service. The Kirtland board will review internal and external CEO candidates.
The credit unions did not release specific reasons for the merger's failure.
"Both parties have worked hard over the past 10 months to identify and overcome possible barriers to a successful merger," Robert Chavez, president/CEO of Sandia Laboratory, said. "At this time, we've been unable to develop a scenario that's in the best interests of both sets of members."
The consolidation would have created a credit union with more than $3 billion in assets and a membership of more than 133,000.
The boards of directors and management teams said in a prepared statement that both credit unions will continue collaborations over the next several years and may pursue other opportunities, which may be mutually beneficial.
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