Northern Star Financial Inc. in Mankato, Minn., plans to sell a 49% stake in itself for $3.5 million.
In a news release Friday, the $47 million-asset company also said that it had agreed to sell its St. Cloud branch to the $79 million-asset BankVista in Sartell, Minn. It did not disclose a sale price.
Northern Star has had only one profitable year since its founding in early 1999.
It is selling the 49% stake to an outfit called AP Holdings LLC. The release did not give any information about AP Holdings, and Northern Star's chief executive officer, Thomas Stienessen, did not return telephone calls.
Mr. Stienessen said in the release that the sales would strengthen Northern Star's balance sheet and allow it to focus on expanding its Mankato operations. Selling the St. Cloud office would leave the company with only one office in Mankato.
