Frandsen Bank & Trust plans to purchase a Duluth, Minn., branch from Alerus Financial, N.A. Richard Hoban, director of corporate development at the Arden Hills-Minn.-based Frandsen Financial, made the announcement Jan. 15.
A purchase agreement has been signed, with an anticipated closing date of April 26, 2019, pending regulatory approval from the Federal Reserve Bank and the Minnesota Department of Commerce. The office will operate under the Frandsen Bank & Trust name following the closing date.
The branch is located at 331 West Superior Street. Alerus plans to close its other Duluth branch, located at 1405 Miller Trunk Highway.
“This purchase is part of a strategic move to acquire banking assets in high-growth markets so we’re looking forward to expanding our presence in Duluth,” said Frandsen Financial CEO Charles Mausback. “We opened our first office here a little over a year ago in an effort to serve the area residents and businesses better than we were from our Cloquet location.”
FB&T will be acquiring approximately $27 million in deposits and $40 million in loans from Alerus. The deal does not include any Alerus wealth management or trust accounts.
“Alerus’s customers, both retail and commercial, can expect the same great service they’re used to. FB&T and Alerus share very similar ‘community- and customer-first’ philosophies,” Mausback said.
Alerus, which is based in Grand Forks, N.D., picked up the Duluth operations when it purchased Beacon Bank of Shorewood, Minn., in 2016. Beacon had opened a Duluth office in 2002 when Tim Meininger, a long-time Duluth banker, teamed up with former Shorewood president Bob Weiss. The pair opened a second Duluth office in 2003. Weiss and Meininger had formed a friendship earlier while serving in leadership at the Minnesota Bankers Association.
Founded in 1982, Frandsen Financial Corporation has full-service community banking offices in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Frandsen Bank & Trust has assets in excess of $1.7 billion.