Associated Bank pares down branch network
After it completes Bank Mutual merger, company will close a dozen banks in area
Associated Bank plans to close 28 Bank Mutual branches, including a dozen in the Milwaukee area, as part of its $482 million acquisition of Bank Mutual.
In addition, eight Associated branches in Wisconsin are slated to be consolidated into nearby Bank Mutual branches, Associated said in an application seeking regulatory approval of the merger.
Information on the number of employees who would lose their jobs in the branch closings wasn’t available Friday. The merger is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018.
When Associated and Bank Mutual announced the merger in July, executives said they expected to cut operating costs for the combined entity, including through closures of branches near each other. Eventually all the branches will be under the Associated brand name.
In some places, such as along N. Mayfair Road near Mayfair mall, an Associated branch is across the street from a Bank Mutual branch. In all cases in the branch consolidations, the two branches being merged are no more than 2.2 miles from each other, and most are much closer.
Bank Mutual has 58 branches — 57 in Wisconsin and one in Minnesota. Associated had 227 U.S. branches as of June 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Of that total, 162 were in Wisconsin, 43 in Illinois, 21 in Minnesota and one in Virginia.
At midyear, Associated had 4,365 full-time equivalent employees and Bank Mutual had 594, FDIC data shows.
Industry professionals say it’s likely some of the branch buildings Associated is shedding will be sold to credit unions or other banks.
Green Bay-based Associated is the largest bank headquartered in Wisconsin, while Brown Deer’s Bank Mutual is the third biggest.
Here are the proposed branch closures in the Milwaukee area: Bank Mutual branches
510 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, would close and merge into the Associated branch at 401 E. Kilbourn Ave.
3340 S. 27th St. in Milwaukee would merge into Associated at 3432 S. 27th St.
6801 W. Oklahoma Ave., Milwaukee, would merge into Associated at 10701 W. National Ave., West Allis.
2600 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, would merge into Associated 2645 N. Mayfair Road.
5784 N. Port Washington Road, Milwaukee, would merge into Associated at 430 E. Silver Spring Drive, Whitefish Bay.
8780 S. Howell Ave., Oak Creek, would merge into Associated at 8131 S. Howell Ave.
400 N. Moorland Road, Brookfield, would merge into Associated at 17595 W. Blue Mound Road.
10296 W. National Ave., Milwaukee, would merge into Associated at 10701 W. National Ave. in West Allis.
8400 W. Forest Home Ave., Milwaukee, would merge into Associated at 4811 S. 76th St., Greenfield.
W178 N9379 Water Tower Place, Menomonee Falls, would merge into Associated at N88 W15491 Main St.
3212 Fiddlers Creek Drive, Waukesha, would merge into Associated at 2185 N. Grandview Blvd., Pewaukee.
1870 Meadow Lane, Pewaukee, would merge into Associated at 2185 N. Grandview Blvd., Pewaukee. Associated branches
10509 N. Port Washington Road, Mequon, would merge into Bank Mutual branch at 11249 N. Port Washington Road.
1930 Wisconsin Ave., Grafton, would merge into Bank Mutual at 2030 Wisconsin Ave.