- Key insight: Keweenaw Financial's planned acquisition of Range Financial will give it a leading position in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
- Supporting Data: Both companies have deep roots in the region, with Range dating back to 1887 and Keweenaw to 1890.
- Forward look: Range Chief Lending Officer Jamey Markham is expected to serve as president of the combined institution.
Update: This story was updated with comments from Keweenaw Financial CEO Michael Hauswirth.
Keweenaw Financial in Hancock, Michigan, agreed Wednesday to acquire Range Financial in a deal that unites two of the largest banks headquartered in the Wolverine State's Upper Peninsula.
The $635 million-asset Range, holding company for 139-year-old Range Bank, ranks as the biggest bank in Marquette County, with a 29% share of its $1.2 billion deposit market, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. statistics. In recent years, though, Range has lost competitive ground to Flagstar Bank, which has grown its Marquette deposit base at a faster clip.
By combining with the $1 billion-asset Keweenaw, holding company for the 136-year-old Superior National Bank, Range should be able to provide customers with more convenience, a larger product set and a higher commercial loan limit, Range CEO Roxanne Daust said in a press release. Both Keweenaw and Range are privately held.
"Joining forces with Superior National Bank will provide tremendous benefits to Range Bank customers, employees and shareholders," Daust said. "Together, we will be stronger and better positioned for the future, which will be a good thing for all our stakeholders."
Michael Hauswirth, who serves as CEO of Keweenaw and Superior Bank, said his company has been eyeing Marquette County "for a long time."
"It's exciting for us to be there," Hauswirth told American Banker.
Daust, who has led Range since 2006, announced plans to retire last year. Chief Lending Officer Jamey Markham had been slated to succeed her. Now, Markham has agreed to join the merged company as president.
Superior is the largest bank in its home market, Houghton County, holding a 51% share of the $935 million deposit market, according to FDIC data. It is targeting a fourth-quarter close for the deal with Range after agreeing to pay an unspecified sum.
Once the deal is complete, Superior expects to have assets of $1.68 billion and deposits totaling $1.43 billion. It will be overseen by a 12-member board, with seven Superior directors joined by five from Range.
"The thing that makes this work is our collaboration and our willingness to work to build an organization that will be stronger together," Hauswirth said.
Both Superior and Range are profitable banks with low levels of problem loans. Superior reported a first-quarter profit of $2.8 million along with charge-offs totaling nine basis points of loans and leases. Meanwhile, Range's first-quarter profit totaled $2 million. It reported recoveries of $23,000 for the three months ending March 31.
"We certainly had a good sense that our cultures were aligned," Hauswirth said. "The further along we got, the more we realized we're very like-minded. … I think both organizations have a tremendous amount of respect for each other. That's what brings something like this across the finish line."
Though less densely populated than the rest of Michigan, the Upper Peninsula has seen its share of consolidation. Mackinac Financial, which had operated the region's largest bank, was acquired in 2021 by the $15.57 billion-asset Nicolet Bankshares in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
More recent merger-and-acquisition activity in the area has featured
In 2023, the $1 billion-asset 4Front Credit Union in Traverse City, Michigan, acquired the $124 million-asset Old Mission Bank in Sault Sainte Marie.
