Chicago's Shorebank Corp. has completed its acquisition of Indecorp, ending the latter's bumpy road to a sale.
The $30 million deal, which endured community protests over Indecorp's loss of minority ownership, nearly doubles the assets of the nationally known development bank, to $550 million.
"This is really an extraordinary opportunity for Shorebank to operate its over two-decade-long program in expanded South and West Side communities in the city of Chicago, and to bring that targeted economic development agenda to bring about long-term, permanent change," said Joan Shapiro, executive vice president of South Shore Bank.
Last June, Shorebank announced plans to acquire Indecorp, which had been seeking a buyer for about two years. Several potential suitors had shown interest, including Shorebank, which Indecorp previously had spurned. That changed, however, after a merger agreement with Michigan's Omnibanc Corp. fell apart over pricing disagreements.
Despite Shorebank's 22-year history of community development in Chicago, some community leaders formally protested its application because Indecorp would no longer be minority-owned.
"We're going to make the best of a bad situation," said Mark Allen, who headed a coalition of community leaders against the sale. "We'll move on. Unfortunately, a majority of the community residents concerned is something that federal regulators could care less about, so they've detached themselves from the kind of community concerns that we are concerned with, especially the fight to retain black ownership."
As part of the merger, Drexel National was merged into South Shore Bank immediately; Independence Bank will be merged in February, the company said. South Shore is offering Indecorp customers new services, such as 24- hour phone access, and plans more consumer loan products.
Shorebank said it raised capital for the deal from existing and new investors, exceeding its new equity goal of $15 million by more than 25%.
