Chicago-based First Midwest Bancorp has agreed to acquire Milwaukee-based Park Bank parent company Bankmanagers Corp. for approximately $195 million.
David Werner, president and chief executive officer of Park Bank, will lead the Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin market for First Midwest following the acquisition, the banks announced Wednesday.
Park Bank is one of the largest independent commercial banks in Milwaukee with approximately $1 billion in total assets, $815 million in deposits and $700 million in loans. It has about 100 employees.
First Midwest has about $12 billion in assets under management for clients in 30 states, and has about 2,200 employees.
The acquisition will allow First Midwest to expand its physical footprint in a market where it has already been doing business for many years, said Michael Scudder, chairman and chief executive officer of First Midwest.
“We really like the Milwaukee marketplace as a whole; it’s just a great place to do business,” Scudder said. “That, combined with the business and growth we’ve already experienced within Milwaukee, the opportunity to partner with Park and keep the decisioning local and the market knowledge and the client relationships intact and build on that was very appealing for us.”
“We think this is a good cultural fit, both with the organization but also just the business climate in Milwaukee,” added Mark Sander, president of First Midwest.
Until recently, First Midwest, which Scudder said has made nearly $500 million in loans to Wisconsin businesses, has largely operated in the Milwaukee market without a significant physical presence here.
In January, First Midwest acquired Northern Oak Wealth Management Inc., a Milwaukee-based registered investment advisor with about $800 million in assets under management. In March, First Midwest opened a loan production office in Milwaukee to service commercial real estate and commercial customers.
Scudder said Park’s team will remain “largely intact” under Werner’s leadership and stressed that First Midwest has its eye on growing operations in southeast Wisconsin.
“We don’t see any shift or decline in what Park is doing; we continue to look for ways to expand,” Scudder said.
The Park Bank acquisition is expected to close by January 2020.
“First Midwest’s mission of helping its customers achieve financial success is aligned with our client-first approach,” Werner said in a news release. “Joining First Midwest will enable us to both continue and enhance our commitment to relationship-banking as well as offer our customers a broader array of products and services. First Midwest is very familiar with the Milwaukee market, and we look forward to becoming part of the First Midwest family.”
