Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. in Lititz, Pa., said Wednesday that it had bought Brandywine Benefits Corp. and Rockford Pensions LLC, two business lines of a Wilmington, Del., financial planning, consulting, and administration entity collectively known as Brandywine.
The deal for a company specializing in retirement benefit plans for small to midsize businesses “fills a service niche in our retirement plan services business,” said William J. Reuter, the banking company’s chairman, president, and CEO. It also will “enhance Susquehanna’s noninterest income opportunities,” he said in a press release.
Brandywine designs, executes, and administers low-cost, full-service qualified retirement plans tailored for business owners, employees, and key personnel. In addition to buying Brandywine Benefits and Rockford Pensions, Susquehanna did an asset-only purchase of a third business line, JFP Strategies. Though the three business lines perform specialized functions, their operations are managed as a single entity, the company said.
Susquehanna is to merge Brandywine Benefits Corp. and Rockford Pensions into Valley Forge Asset Management Enterprises LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of its wealth management affiliate, Valley Forge Asset Management, in King of Prussia, Pa.
Brandywine has more than 250 customers in the Middle Atlantic states and generates about $1.3 million of annual revenue. Its employees, including Margo Johnson and Gary Johnson, the founders, are to remain at the company.
Susquehanna is a multistate financial services holding company with assets of $7.5 billion. Its assets under management and administration totaled about $5 billion at Dec. 31.
