Canada’s VersaBank acquires a Minnesota-based bank to fuel US growth

Canadian bank VersaBank has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Minnesota-based Stearns Bank Holdingford (SBH) for an estimated $13.5 million (CA$17.4 million).

VersaBank acquires a US bank

SBH is a fully operational national bank, OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)-chartered bank, focused on small business lending. VersaBank says it expects to add approximately $60 million in total assets from SBH, subject to any adjustments at closing.

Upon closing, SBH will be renamed VersaBank USA National Association, while its parent, Stearn Financial Services, and its other subsidiaries will continue to operate as usual, the bank adds.

The acquisition provides VersaBank with access to US deposits to fuel the growth of its Receivable Purchase Programme business, which VersaBank recently launched in the US after scaling it in Canada.

“We have built a tremendously successful digital banking operation in Canada, providing innovative, technology-based solutions to serve unmet needs, which has driven outsized earnings growth,” says David Taylor, president and CEO, VersBank.

“Now, with the acquisition of US-based SBH, we will have a platform from which to replicate that success in the western world’s largest banking market.”

The acquisition is expected to close before the end of VersaBank’s fiscal year on 31 October 2022, subject to regulatory approval in both the US and Canada.