Illinois Credit Union Plans Wisconsin Bank Acquisition

The $1.9 billion Empeople Credit Union in Moline, Ill., said Wednesday it plans to acquire the $182 million TSB Bank in Lomira, Wis., by the fourth quarter pending approvals from regulators and shareholders.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in a joint statement that announced Empeople’s first bank buy.

The bank was founded in 1905 in Theresa, Wis., as Theresa State Bank and currently has 25 employees who operate three locations serving eastern Wisconsin.

TSB manages $125 million in loans, $158 million in deposits and $22.7 million in capital, according to the bank’s Uniform Bank Performance Report ending Dec. 31.

The transaction will expand Empeople’s business and commercial services for its members as well as enhance its presence in Wisconsin, where the credit union operates a branch in Horicon. Empeople also runs 28 locations in Illinois, Iowa, Maine, North Dakota, North Carolina and Georgia, serving more than 73,000 members.

“TSB is an extremely well-run institution with a very long history in the area, where we also have members at the nearby John Deere Horicon Works facility,” Empeople President/CEO Kurt Lewin said in the prepared statement. “The expertise of the TSB staff and management will allow us to expand opportunities for our members who own and operate small businesses. Continued growth is important for the future, and this partnership will allow both institutions to continue to grow together.”

TSB Bank Chairman and CEO Thomas M. O’Connor said under the purchase and assumption agreement the bank will continue operations as TSB Financial, a division of Empeople Credit Union.

“The communities we serve will continue to experience a customer-focused approach from familiar individuals in existing locations,” he said in a prepared statement.

This is the fifth proposed credit union-bank acquisition agreement announced this year.