GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Lake Michigan Credit Union (LMCU) and United Federal Credit Union (UFCU) announced that they have cancelled a proposed merger of the two institutions.
In a statement, the credit unions said they arrived at the mutual decision "after careful consideration" that they would be "better served" by remaining independent in order to deliver the "utmost value" to their members.
Sandy Jelinski, president and CEO of LMCU, commented that talks between the two companies "led us to realize we each have unique attributes, members and communities that should remain distinct."
Her counterpart at UFCU, Gary Easterling, said that this was a case of "two strong organizations coming together," but in the end "we both believed our best path forward was to be independent."
LMCU and UFCU both noted that due to the preliminary nature of the process, the proposed merger was never put before regulatory authorities or membership votes for consideration.
But they added that they both intend "to seek the right external opportunities for growth and expansion that will provide greater value to their respective members."
Based in Grand Rapids, Mich. LMCU has more than $4-billion in assets and over 330,000 members. Based in St. Joseph, Mich. UFCU has in excess of $2 billion in assets and 130,000 members.
The Michigan Credit Union League & Affiliates (MCUL) said that the merger, which was first announced in October 2015, would have been one of the largest in the history of the credit union movement.
Indeed, had the merger been successful the combined institution would have boasted assets of more than $6 billion and would have been one of the nation's
Easterling was quoted by "Moody on the Market," a Michigan-based business and economy website, as stating that during the merger process "it became increasingly apparent that we were simply trying to align two very different organizations, two very different cultures, and the task became just too difficult to achieve at this time."
In addition, although Easterling announced his retirement last year, with the proposed merger now cancelled, Easterling told "Moody on the Market" that he will postpone retirement a bit longer to extend his stay at the credit union.
