Two North Carolina credit unions — Coastal Federal Credit Union and Freedom Credit Union — said their boards have agreed to merge the institutions in a transaction that will result in Coastal FCU as the surviving entity.
Subject to final approval from regulators and Freedom CU's membership at a meeting in early summer, the merger is expected to close on July 1.
Based in Raleigh, N.C., Coastal FCU has about $2.6-billion in assets, while the $53-million Freedom CU is headquartered in Rocky Mount, N.C.
Post-merger, the two credit unions will operate as separate entities until a full conversion from Freedom CU's systems to Coastal FCU's can be completed, scheduled to occur in November.
"The opportunity to partner with Coastal is just too attractive to pass up," said Jeff Jones, Freedom CU's president and CEO in a statement. "Coastal offers the size, strength and resources of an industry leader, with the cooperative values and local focus of a small credit union. The merger is a great move for our credit union and expands the products, services and conveniences we can offer our members. It will also provide more long-term opportunities for our employees, and will overcome many of the challenges we face as a small credit union, such as rising regulatory and compliance costs."
In connection with the merger, Coastal FCU said it is committed is to placing all current Freedom CU employees into "comparable roles" within Coastal FCU, as well as maintaining Freedom's four branch locations in Cary, Henderson, Rocky Mount and Raleigh.
Chuck Purvis, Coastal FCU's president and CEO, added: "I'm excited about the opportunities this merger will present to both organizations. We have more than 6,000 Coastal members living within the greater Henderson and Rocky Mount areas who will benefit from this natural expansion of our geographic reach."
