Nicolet National Bank to expand into Mich.
GREEN BAY - Nicolet National Bank will expand its reach into Michigan with an acquisition announced Monday afternoon. Nicolet Bankshares Inc., the bank’s parent company, will buy Mackinac Financial Corp., parent company of Michigan-based mBank, for a mix of cash and stock valued at $248 million.
In Nicolet, mBank executives said they found a bank that shares a culture, commitment to support communities where they operate and a shared banking platform, a key commonality that will help smooth the transition.
Nicolet will give mBank customers access to wealth management services that mBank does not provide, while Nicolet’s size — with roughly three times the assets mBank has under management — will allow mBank to provide larger loans to businesses, said Kelly George, mBank president and CEO.
“We match up well. Overall, our clients will see some benefits on the lending capacity side and on technology,” George said. “The business economies of northern Wisconsin and the UP synch up well. I just think ... our footprint slides in well with their markets and their culture. It’s a natural expansion into the Upper Peninsula and northern lower Michigan.”
For Nicolet, the acquisition is an opportunity to add the largest bank in the markets mBank serves and a culture that matches the Green Bay-based bank’s own culture, said Mike Daniels, Nicolet National Bank’s president and CEO.
“They have a very talented, customer-facing commercial banking team in markets where the operational combination will enhance their ability to deliver to customers,” Daniels said. “At its core, community banking is about local decision-making. Culturally, that aligns in this case.”
Manistique-based mBank currently operates 28 branches, most of which are concentrated in the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan. It also operates seven branches in northern Wisconsin, several of which it absorbed via acquisitions in the last five years.
The acquisition has been approved by the companies’ boards of directors, but still is subject to regulatory approval and shareholder votes.
Combined, the two banks would have assets of $6.1 billion, deposits of $5.2 billion and loans of $3.9 billion, with mBank accounting for about 25% of Nicolet’s year-end assets.
This will be Nicolet’s fifth acquisition in the last six years.