Vibrant Credit Union, Infinity FCU scrap merger plans

The planned merger of Infinity Federal Credit Union in Westbrook, Maine, and Vibrant Credit Union in Moline, Ill., has been called off less than two months after it was announced.

The deal was canceled “after months of the due diligence,” according to a press release Monday from the $334 million-asset Infinity.

The process “brought some important differences to light and it became evident that the integration was simply not a good fit,” Elizabeth Hayes, Infinity FCU’s president and CEO, said in the press release. She added that the talks ended amicably and that the two institutions intend to collaborate in the future. A further explanation as to why the merger was called off was not given.

Failed credit union mergers are relatively rare, though this is the second such event so far in 2019. Earlier this year a merger between Van Cortlandt Cooperative FCU and USAlliance FCU was scuttled after receiving approval from federal regulators. In early 2016, Lake Michigan CU and United FCU called off a planned merger that would have created the largest credit union in Michigan.

The Infinity-Vibrant merger was announced at the beginning of August and would have created an institution with more than 70,000 members and $1 billion in assets. Matt McCombs, president and CEO of the $754 million-asset Vibrant, was set to be CEO after the merger was completed. Hayes would have been executive vice president.

Infinity earned $126,000 for the first six months of the year, down about 55% from the same period a year earlier, according to call report data.

Vibrant earned about $3.4 million through June 30, more than double its net income from a year earlier, according to call report data.