Dive Brief:
- Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Nusenda Credit Union will acquire Las Cruces-based Western Heritage Bank for an undisclosed sum in a deal set to close next year, the credit union said Tuesday.
- The transaction will give $4 billion-asset Nusenda six added branches and a presence in Texas, as four of Western Heritage’s locations are in El Paso.
- The Nusenda deal marks the fourth instance this year of a credit union buying a bank — a prospect that irks trade groups like Independent Community Bankers of America, which argues that credit unions’ tax exemption allows them to offer a higher buying price and helps them grow more freely than banks.
Dive Insight:
Credit union-bank tie-ups are well off their record-tying pace from 2022, when 16 such deals were proposed. By the first week of June last year, nine had been announced.
The $338 million-asset Western Heritage, however, is the second bank to link up with a credit union in the past week: Daleville, Alabama-based All In Credit Union announced Thursday it would buy Dothan-based SunSouth Bank.
“The economic uncertainty had caused a pause in the M&A space,” Michael Bell, an attorney at Honigman, told Banking Dive via email, adding that the deals over the past week are “evidence that the pause is ending.”
The Western Heritage transaction marks Nusenda’s first acquisition of a bank, American Banker reported. Nusenda merged with New Mexico Energy Federal Credit Union in 2013.
“The combination of our two community-focused institutions that share similar beliefs about customer service, community impact and employee well-being will be beneficial to Nusenda Credit Union members and to Western Heritage Bank customers in the Borderplex region,” Nusenda Credit Union CEO Joe Christian said Tuesday in a statement. “Our cultures are strongly aligned.”
The addition of talent and expertise from Western Heritage will be “transformative,” Christian said.
"This is a win-win for both of our organizations and the people we serve," Western Heritage CEO Greg Cory said. "Nusenda is recognized year-over-year as a top financial institution … We are excited to bring additional resources to our clients and plan to continue our tradition of serving our local communities.”
Among this year’s credit union-bank deals, Decatur, Illinois-based Land of Lincoln Credit Union announced its intention to acquire Nokomis Savings Bank in May.
Traverse City, Michigan-based 4Front Credit Union agreed in January to acquire the assets of Sault Sainte Marie-based Old Mission Bank and assume its liabilities.
