Five Star/Flint River Bank Deal Approved By Alabama CU Regulator

DOTHAN, Ala. — The proposed sale of Flint River National Bank to the $260 million Five Star CU here is a step away from completion after the Alabama CU Administration last week approved the deal.

The sale still awaits approval from the NCUA, which Michael Bell, attorney and counselor with Royal-Oak, Mich.-based Howard & Howard, who is representing Five Star, expects will come soon.

The FDIC and OCC — as well as shareholders of the Camilla, Ga.-based Flint River — have already approved the proposed sale.

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance has also approved a charter expansion for Five Star to include Georgia's Mitchell County.

Flint River was valued at $23 million at the time the deal was signed.

Five deals involving credit unions and banks have been signed in the last two years.

In addition to Five Star, the $1.2 billion Municipal Employees CU has purchased $61 million Baltimore-based Advance Bank; Wisconsin's $2.1 billion Landmark CU acquired $190 million Hartford Savings Bank; Massachusetts' $429 million GFA FCU bought New Hampshire's $83 million Monadnock Savings Bank; and the credit union that put everything in motion — Michigan's $1.6 billion United FCU — acquired $81 million Griffith Savings Bank in Indiana.