January 24, 2014 at 4:25 p.m.
Peoples State Bank explains acquisition of Northwoods National's Rhinelander branch
Peoples State Bank explains acquisition of Northwoods National's Rhinelander branch
On Wednesday the two banks announced plans that will have Peoples acquiring Northwoods National as well as certain loans from the Northwoods National branch in Elcho. The bank is based in Baraboo under the name Baraboo National Bank and will also be selling its Green Lake branch to Horicon Bank and its Viroqua branch to a bank headquartered in Prairie du Chien.
"These transactions will help the Baraboo National Bank concentrate its geographic footprint and improve its system- wide operations as the bank continues to adapt to the ongoing changes in the financial services industry, especially with the continued growth of Internet banking," said CEO Merlin Zitzner.
Zitzner said the bank is grateful to Rhinelander, Green Lake and Viroqua for past support and added that all three branches are being sold to "excellent organizations with strong traditions of outstanding customer service." The branches will also be closer to each bank's home office than Baraboo had been, Zitzner said.
Peoples is headquartered in Wausau and has had a presence in Rhinelander since 1998. Peoples plans on purchasing the building on Lincoln Street where Northwoods National is located and will maintain that facility as well as its current branch near downtown.
The purchase includes approximately $22 million of performing loans and $44 million of deposits as of Dec. 31, 2013. Peoples CFO Scott Cattanach said the acquisition gives the bank more than $100 million in total assets in the Rhinelander area, the highest deposit market share in the city.
"They (Baraboo National Bank) wish to focus more on their traditional markets but wanted service to continue for their Northwoods customers, so we were a good fit with them," Cattanach said. "We're excited to be able to expand our presence in Rhinelander."
The acquisition is expected to be complete by the end of March. Cattanach said Northwoods National customers can expect a number of positive changes with the transition to Peoples.
"The bank will have similar or the same hours," Cattanach said. "There will be enhancements for our retail customers with online and electronic banking."
He said customers will be able to do electronic person-to-person payments. The bank is also working on providing the ability to make deposits via a mobile phone.
On the commercial side, Cattanach said Peoples is working on improvements that will help customers identify fraudulent activity more quickly.
"We're also a strong real estate lender and commercial loan lender," Cattanach said. "We hope to expand that with the increased scale we get with the acquisition."
Kyle Rogers may be reached at [email protected].
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