Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin Inc. of Madison has struck its first acquisition deal in six years, announcing Thursday that it has agreed to buy S&C Banco Inc. of New Richmond.
Buying S&C would give Anchor 14 branches in northwest Wisconsin, where it has limited market share, and the No. 2 deposit share in St. Croix County, the state’s fastest-growing county since 2000.
The acquisition also would give Anchor its first three branches in Minnesota.
The $4.6 billion-asset Anchor did not say how much it is paying for S&C, the privately held parent of S&C Bank.
Douglas J. Timmerman, Anchor’s chairman and chief executive, did not return calls by press time, but in a press release Thursday he pointed out that the population of St. Croix County, which borders the Twin Cities of Minnesota, has grown 29% since 2000. S&C holds nearly 15% of the bank deposits in the county, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.
Buying S&C would give Anchor “significant presence in the St. Croix and Chippewa valleys,” Mr. Timmerman said.
Anchor’s last acquisition was in November 2001, when it bought the $507 million-asset Ledger Bank in West Allis, Wis. The deal for S&C is Anchor’s first for a commercial bank, according to the FDIC.
Charlie Bullock, S&C’s president and chief executive officer, said in an interview that his company’s owners decided it was time to sell, and that they chose Anchor after a competitive bidding process.
“We found Anchor a great partner to maintain good community, employee, and customer relationships that the owners developed over the years,” Mr. Bullock said.
The two companies are still negotiating the terms of the integration, he said, and the fate of S&C employees, including his, has not yet been decided.
“We have a lot of good employees, and they know that. I am sure they will work hard to integrate as many as they possibly can,” Mr. Bullock said. “We’re discussing what role I might have.”
He said the deal likely would close next quarter.
Ronald J. Peterson, an analyst with Sterne, Agee & Leach Inc., in Chicago, said it was hard to say whether the deal was a good one, because the terms were not disclosed.
However, he said that because Anchor has been buying back stock, it likely had the cash to buy S&C without using stock.
Acquiring S&C would allow Anchor to take advantage of the attractive Twin Cities market without getting into a slugfest with the large banking companies, Mr. Peterson said.
“I don’t think they want to be in downtown Minneapolis beating heads with TCF, Wells, and U.S. Bank,” he said. “It is probably a longer term good strategic deal” for Anchor.
Anchor’s stock price closed at $24.65 a share Thursday, down 0.36%.
