Ex-CU To Acquire Ex-CU In $9 MillionStock Deal

EAU CLAIRE , Wis. - (06/08/05) -- In what once would have requiredlittle more than a handshake, two converted credit unions haveagreed to merge in a stock deal valued at $9.2 million. Under thedeal, Eau Claire, Wis.-based Citizens Community Bancorp, knownuntil January 2002 as Citizens Community CU, will acquire CommunityPlus Savings Bank, previously known as Community Schools FCU,adding Community Pluses two Michigan branches to its own network of10 branches in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Community Plus SavingsBank, which converted from a credit union in January 2002, has haddeclining fortunes over the past year, with loans dropping 15% in2004 to $28 million, net income falling 15% to just $410,000, andassets growing just 1% to $46 million. Stockholders of CitizensCommunity Bancorp, which has grown 66% to $168 million sinceswitching from a credit union, will vote on the merger at a specialmeeting next week.