HVCU acquires Catskill Hudson Bank
$28.6M deal part of credit union’s expansion in region
POUGHKEEPSIE — The $7 billion Hudson Valley Credit Union announced last week that it had entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Catskill Hudson Bank, a Kingston-based financial institution with $592 million in assets. Under the approximately $28.6 million deal, Catskill Hudson Bank will merge fully into HVCU, with all its customers eventually being transferred to the larger credit union.
The purchase is subject to regulatory and shareholders’ approvals and is expected to close during the second half of 2024, according to HVCU President and CEO Jonathan Roberts. Both Roberts and Catskill Hudson Bank Chairman and CEO Mario L. Martinez cited the challenges smaller community banks face in an increasingly competitive and regulatory financial environment as the rationale for the merger.
The two banks will develop a joint plan to integrate fully within 12-18 months.
The merger — HVCU’S first bank acquisition — accelerates the credit union’s growth in the Capital Region and Sullivan County and expands its business banking offerings with an additional commercial book of business, it said in a statement. Once it is finalized, HVCU will have total assets of approximately $7.4 billion and 32 full-service branches throughout the Hudson Valley and Capital Region, with new corporate offices in Kingston, Middletown and Malta.
Founded in 1963 as the IBM Poughkeepsie Employees Federal Credit Union, HVCU now has 904 employees who operate 21 branches with a total membership of more than 350,000, according to its website. The credit union serves consumers and businesses in Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Ulster and Westchester counties with a wide variety of financial services, including investments and insurance. HVCU is federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration and is an Equal Opportunity Lender.
Catskill Hudson was established in Sullivan County in 1993. It currently serves about 7,500 customers across 11 branches and three offices in Sulli
van, Orange, Ulster, Saratoga and Albany counties.
HVCU said it will continue employment for all Catskill Hudson employees.
“This is an important moment in our growth story,” Roberts said in a prepared statement. “Welcoming the Catskill Hudson customers and employees to the credit union will create a stronger institution than either of us were individually. Together, we will advance our mission by serving members in the northern counties of our current field of membership and expand our service to include Sullivan County to the west.”
Under the merger agreement, Catskill Hudson Bank’s Martinez will serve as HVCU’S senior market president.
“It was extremely important for us to partner with an organization that shares similar values, and we found that in Hudson Valley Credit Union. I am confident that HVCU will bring many benefits to our employees and customers for years to come,” Martinez said in a statement. “With Hudson Valley Credit Union’s deep breadth of financial products and services, our customers will have even more opportunities to thrive with a financial partner that puts their well-being at the forefront — just as we have done for the past 30 years.”