Clara City, Minn.-based Citizens Alliance Bank is acquiring Butte, Mont.-based Granite Mountain Bank.
The acquisition includes Granite Mountain branches in Philipsburg and Drummond, Mont. Citizens Alliance already has three Montana branches, in Great Falls, Seeley Lake and Lincoln.
A press release states that the merger will allow Granite Mountain Bank customers to have direct access to the secondary real estate lending market, an increased bank-lending limit and more advanced digital banking technology. Granite Mountain President Neil Bolton will lead the $135 million bank’s current branches once the merger closes later this year.
“The employees, branch locations and commitment to the Granite Mountain Bank customers will not change,” said Chad Forkrud, president of the $1.2 billion Citizens Alliance Bank. “Customers will be dealing with the same individuals that they deal with today.”
Granite Mountain Chair Jerry Sullivan added that “although the decision to sell the bank was a difficult one, I know that Citizens Alliance Bank is focused on community banking, committed to local decision-making and has experience operating in Montana.”