Liberty Enterprises says it is doing all it can to communicate with both customer credit unions and its own employees as it is being acquired by Harland Financial Solutions.
"We're telling employees and customers as much as we can as soon as we can," said Stan Hollen, CEO of the Mounds View, Minn.-based Liberty, who spoke with The Credit Union Journal during the California league's Big Valley meting. "The questions from customers are 'will we still have the same sales rep' and 'will we still speak to the same people,' and the answers are 'yes' and yes.'"
With employees, Hollen said company has sent multiple e-mails, staged town meetings, distributed Q&As and more. "Anytime there is a merger or buyout there are going to be questions," said Hollen. Chief among those questions: "What about my job?" "There are areas of duplication," said Hollen. "There is an efficiency aspect to this. We will be looking at opportunities for cost controls. But the integration will take time."
Hollen said where those efficiencies will be found has yet to be firmly identified. "We know only that there will be an evaluation of efficicnices, and we will match capacity to customer demand," said Hollen, who confirmed that the Liberty brand will remain in place. "It's a very strong brand in the credit union market," he said.
