Flagstar Bank to buy 52 branches from Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo Bank is selling 52 Midwest branches to Troy, Mich.-based Flagstar Bank, including four in northeastern Wisconsin.

Although Flagstar has some mortgage lending offices in Wisconsin, the transaction would give Flagstar its first branch presence in the state. The Wisconsin Wells Fargo branches that will become Flagstar locations are in Gillett, Marinette, Mountain and Oconto Falls.

In the purchase, Wells Fargo, which plans to reduce its overall number of branches, will sell a total of $2.3 billion in deposits and $130 million in loans in four states — Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin — to Flagstar.

Thirty-three of the branches are in Indiana, including 26 branches in Fort Wayne, where Flagstar will become No. 1 in local market share. The deal includes 14 branches in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where it also will be No. 1 in market share, and one in Ohio, in addition to the four in Wisconsin.

Flagstar said the deal was “transformational,” strengthening and diversifying the bank and adding almost 200,000 new customers.

“We’re excited to welcome the Wells Fargo employees and customers to Flagstar Bank,” Alessandro DiNello, president and chief executive officer of Flagstar Bancorp Inc., said in a statement. “Wells Fargo’s primary goal throughout the negotiation of this transaction has been to make sure its customers and employees experience a seamless transition to Flagstar, and we will ensure that happens.”

DiNello added: “Being able to increase our presence in the Midwest market — a geography we know well and find very attractive — is a terrific opportunity for us. This transaction significantly expands our banking footprint, more than doubling our customer base.”

Flagstar, which has assets of nearly $18 billion, provides commercial, small business and consumer banking services through 99 branches in Michigan and eight branches in California via its Desert Community Bank division.