Minnetonka, Minn.,-based Minnwest Bank announced Aug. 13 that it is merging with Minnesota-based Roundbank.
Roundbank is headquartered in Waseca and has three other Minnesota locations, in New Prague, Waldorf and Farmington. As of last month, Roundbank had approximately 70 employees and $385 million in assets.
Founded in 1987, Minnwest Bank is family-owned with 32 branches throughout Minnesota and South Dakota, with $2.27 billion in assets. The merger is set to be completed by the end of this year, contingent on regulatory approval.
“We are excited about the merger with Minnwest Bank, as they share our values and commitment to employees, customers, and communities they serve,” said Larry Thompson, Roundbank president. “They have an extremely strong agricultural focus and this, together with their desire to expand mortgage and retail services, will provide significant opportunity to Roundbank employees.”
Minnwest Bank president Douglas Karsky echoed some of those sentiments.
“Merging Minnwest Bank with Roundbank presents an exciting opportunity for Minnwest to expand its geographic footprint and customer reach, as well as become more sophisticated with our mortgage and consumer lending services,” he said. “Not only are there business benefits to merging, but there are synergies between Roundbank and Minnwest culturally as well. Through this process, our ultimate goal is to make this transition as smooth and as transparent as possible to staff and customers.”
Roundbank was originally chartered in 1881 and is part of the Claire Erickson family of businesses. The holding company for Roundbank is Waseca Bancshares. The bank was first purchased from First Bank System (now U.S. Bank) by the Erickson family and local directors and management group in 1987.
Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A., acted as a financial advisor for RoundBank. Fredrikson & Byron, P.A., acted as a legal advisor to Minnwest Bank.