Lake Mills-based Greenwoods Financial Group Inc. has agreed to acquire Burlington-based Fox River Financial Corp., the organizations announced. The transaction is expected to close in June.
In addition, Greenwoods has acquired the former Bank Mutual Corp. branch at 3212 Fiddlers Creek Drive in Waukesha, where it plans to open a Greenwoods State Bank branch on April 1. The Fiddlers Creek branch was one of 36 redundant branches closed when Green Bay-based Associated Banc-Corp acquired Brown Deer-based Bank Mutual in February 2018. It was then among 27 properties acquired by real estate developers Randy Roth and Dennis Klein, which they have been selling off.
Fox River Financial operates Fox River State Bank, which was established in 2003 and has branches in Burlington and Lake Geneva. It had 25 employees and $95 million in assets as of Sept. 30, according to the FDIC. Fox River will be rebranded to Greenwoods State Bank, said Andy Portale, vice president of business development at Greenwoods.
Since 2010, Greenwoods Financial Group has operated Greenwoods State Bank, which was established in Lake Mills in the late 1800s. The bank has tripled in asset size since Greenwoods Financial began managing it, the company said. As of Sept. 30, it had 51 employees at seven locations in Lake Mills, Fort Atkinson, Monticello and Evansville, according to the FDIC. Greenwoods has $178 million in total assets.
Greenwoods is expanding to Waukesha as a result of higher commercial loan demand, the company said.
“We have had a great response to the opening of our loan production office in nearby Hartland, making this opportunity in Waukesha an easy decision,” said Bill McDonald, chief executive officer of Greenwoods State Bank. “Along with our acquisition of Fox River State Bank, we now have a significant footprint in Green, Rock, Waukesha, Racine, Jefferson and Walworth counties. The location in Waukesha was fueled by interest from current clients and inquiries from dynamic entrepreneurs located in the greater Waukesha area.”
Keith Pollek, president and chief executive officer of Fox River State Bank, would be appointed executive vice president and market president of the combined bank. Craig Faust, who was on Fox River State Bank’s board of directors, will join Greenwoods’ board.
“Greenwoods shares our commitment to providing relationship banking together with responsive customer service,” Pollek said. “As part of the Greenwoods team, we will continue to provide the highly personalized experience our clients have come to expect, while providing these clients with an expanded suite of products and services. This partnership will be a long-term benefit to our clients and the communities we serve.”
