Billion-Dollar Credit Unions in Oregon & Washington Plan 2023 Merger
TwinStar CU and Northwest Community CU will manage $4 billion in assets if the consolidation wins approvals from members and regulators.
Another big merger is in the works that would create a credit union with combined assets of $4 billion, 700 employees and 36 branches, and that would serve more than 246,000 members in Oregon and Washington.
On Thursday, the $2.2 billion TwinStar Credit Union in Lacey, Wash., and the $1.8 billion Northwest Community Credit Union in Eugene, Ore., announced plans to merge pending approvals from NWC members and regulators.
“People have asked, and are going to continue to ask us, why merge/? To be frank, it goes beyond just one reason,” TwinStar President/CEO Jeff Kennedy said in a prepared statement. “It’s because we would gain economies of scale; it’s because we’d grow to 36 branches across two states; it’s because with that growth comes more opportunity. Ultimately, however, we are pursuing this merger because we believe we can provide more member, employee and community value together and we’ve found a great partnership.”
Kennedy will become the CEO and NWCU President/CEO John D. Iglesias will become the president when the credit unions are consolidated. The branches will continue to operate under their brand names while the credit unions “work collaboratively to determine what the credit union’s unified name would be in the future,” according to the prepared statement.
“We put thoughtful care, consideration and months of due diligence into this to ensure a merger with TwinStar made sense, and at every step, it has,” Inglesias said in a prepared statement. “The vision for the future of both credit unions’ boards of directors is 100% aligned,” he said.
The credit unions said they expect the consolidation to be finalized in early 2023, while the IT systems integration is expected to be completed in late 2023 or early 2024.
In addition to TwinStar and NWC, other billion-dollar credit unions that are consolidating included the $2.7 billion Capital Communications Federal Credit Union with the $5.5 billion State Employees Federal Credit Union, both based in Albany, N.Y. The merger was approved by CAP COM members last month. Additionally, the $1.9 billion New England Federal Credit Union in Williston, Vt., and the $1 billion Vermont State Employees Credit Union in Montpelier, plan to combine but there is organized opposition to the proposed consolidation.
TwinStar would become the second Washington credit union this year to merge with an out-of-state credit union. In June, members of the $612 million Global Credit Union in Spokane, Wash., approved consolidating with the $10.8 billion Alaska USA Federal Credit Union in Anchorage, Alaska.