Iowa-based Heartland Financial USA has agreed to acquire AIM Bancshares and its fully-owned subsidiary AimBank in a stock-cum-cash deal worth around $280.4m.
Following the merger of the Texas-based AIM Bancshares with Heartland Financial, the former’s subsidiary will be combined with the latter’s Texan subsidiary FirstBank & Trust (FB&T).
The combined bank subsidiary will be operated under the FirstBank & Trust brand and is set to become the largest subsidiary of Heartland Financial.
Headquartered in Levelland, AimBank is a full-service community bank that held around $1.78bn in total assets, $1.16bn in net loans outstanding, and deposits of $1.54bn, as of 31 December 2019.
The community bank caters to the Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, Abilene, Amarillo, and other neighbouring West Texas communities. Apart from having 19 full-service banking centres, AimBank has six full-service banking centres located across the northeastern part of New Mexico.
Based in Lubbock, FirstBank & Trust had total assets of nearly $1.14bn, as of 31 December 2019. The community bank has eight full-service banking centres across West Texas.
Following the completion of the transaction, the enlarged FirstBank & Trust bank will hold assets of around $3bn, while operating 33 banking centres that will serve West Texas and Northeastern New Mexico.
Heartland Financial president and CEO Bruce Lee said: “We entered the Texas market in 2018 through the acquisition of FirstBank & Trust and indicated that we fully expected to create a foundation for future growth.
“We are now delivering on this strategy through the AimBank acquisition. We are growing our presence and adding additional scale with a great new partner. AimBank has had remarkable growth both organically and through acquisitions while maintaining its efficiency.”
Terms of the Heartland Financial, AIM Bancshares merger
As per the terms of the merger, shareholders of AIM Bancshares will be issued 207 shares of Heartland Financial’s shares plus $685 in cash for each of their shares of AIM Bancshares’ common stock.
AimBank chairman and CEO Scott Wade said: “The combination of AimBank with the Heartland family of community banks significantly increases our lending capabilities and gives us access to products and services offered by larger banks while preserving our legacy as a locally-led community bank.
“This is a great opportunity for our customers, who will enjoy a broader selection of banking products and will continue to deal directly with our current staff.”
The deal is likely to close in the third quarter of this year, subject to approvals from federal and state bank regulators and the AIM Bancshares’ shareholders, apart from the meeting of customary closing conditions.
