Meta Financial Group pursued an avenue toward a national commercial and industrial lending platform and thus the holding company of $5.2 billion MetaBank, Sioux Falls, S.D., has agreed to purchase Crestmark Bank, Troy, Mich., a $1.1 billion operation.
The stock transaction will cost Meta approximately $320.6 million in offering 2.65 of its shares for each Crestmark share.
“With this acquisition, we continue to deliver on our goal of growth and innovation through diversification,” Meta Chairman and CEO J. Tyler Haahr said in a statement. “This transformational transaction will allow us to significantly add on-balance sheet loans at attractive yields with the addition of Crestmark’s national lending platform. It also creates complementary cross-sell opportunities for our insurance premium finance business.
“Crestmark has built an enviable lending platform, and we believe the business is poised for rapid growth. We look forward to welcoming their tenured management team and talented workforce to Meta.”
While continuing to operate out of Troy, Crestmark will do so under the MetaBank name. Crestmark Chairman and CEO W. David Tull and another Crestmark director will join the Meta board while President and COO Michael Goik will become a MetaBank EVP.
“The merger of Meta and Crestmark results in the complementary combination of a leading player in the payments industry and low-cost deposit generator with a premier, high-margin asset generator,” Tull said. “The synergies will enable the combined entity to grow and prosper. Additionally, Crestmark will be able to leverage the power of Meta’s low-cost deposit franchise and larger balance sheet to capitalize on even more growth opportunities.”
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter and be immediately accretive to earnings, excluding merger costs.