Spring Grove Bank to Become 18th Merchants Bank location

SPRING GROVE, Minn. – Merchants Bank has reached an agreement to purchase the current Central Bank in Spring Grove, according to Merchants Financial Group, Inc., President and CEO Richard L. Mahoney and Central Bank President Larry Albert.

The sale will include more than $22 million in deposit relationships and the physical locations of the bank in Spring Grove.

“With our focus on community and the importance of relationship banking, we believe we are the right type of bank to meet the needs of the customers in Spring Grove,” Mahoney said. “We are thankful to the leadership at Central for their commitment to providing customers the best service possible over the long term.”

Through an agreement with the FDIC, Central Bank had assumed all the deposits of Jennings State Bank and its two locations in Spring Grove and Stillwater in early October of 2009. Central Bank is headquartered in Stillwater.

“In our conversations with Merchants, we agreed that customers of the bank would be best served by a market leader in the area. Merchants has a strong regional presence and its bank in Caledonia is not only one of the best in the area, but also just right down the road,” said Larry Albert “People in that market know and trust the Merchants name, just like our customers know and trust us in our primary market in the Twin Cities metro area.”

The sale is pending regulatory approval. Barring complications, Mahoney said he expects the sale to be completed in late Fall. Terms of the sale have not been disclosed. When the sale is complete, Spring Grove will become the Bank’s 18th location.