Glacier announces another deal to offset crossing $10B asset threshold

Glacier Bancorp in Kalispell, Mont., has agreed to buy Inter-Mountain Bancorp in Bozeman, Mont.

The $9.9 billion-asset Glacier said in a press release Thursday that it will pay $173.4 million in stock for the $986 million-asset parent of First Security Bank. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter.

First Security will become a new division of Glacier. Big Sky Western Bank, Glacier’s existing Bozeman division, will be merged into First Security. The agriculture-focused northern branches of First Security, which represent about a quarter of its total assets, will combine with Glacier’s First Bank of Montana.

First Security “is almost 100 years old and has a tremendous staff and position in its local markets,” Randy Chesler, Glacier’s president and CEO, said in the release. “It also brings outstanding branch offices, solid earnings, strong customer relationships, and a solid core deposit base.”

The deal should be immediately accretive to Glacier’s earnings per share and tangible book value per share. Glacier said the deal will add more than $600 million in “high-quality loans” and over $800 million in core deposits.

The deal should help offset the regulatory implications from crossing $10 billion of assets, the threshold that triggers stress testing and caps on interchange fees.

This acquisition would be Glacier’s 20th since 2000 and its ninth in the last five years. Glacier agreed in June to buy Columbine Capital in Buena Vista, Colo., in a deal that is also expected to close in the first quarter.

Glacier was advised by D.A. Davidson and Miller Nash Graham & Dunn. Inter-Mountain was advised by ProBank Austin, Christian Samson & Jones and Holland & Hart.

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