Arizona Bank & Trust to acquire Arizona operations of Johnson Bank

Arizona Bank & Trust (AB&T), a subsidiary of Iowa-based Heartland Financial USA, announced that it will acquire certain operations of Johnson Bank in Arizona, from Johnson Financial, for an undisclosed amount.

AB&T will acquire certain assets, and assume substantially all of the deposits and certain other liabilities of Johnson Bank’s Arizona operations.

As of 31 March, Johnson Bank had $5.52bn in total assets and $4.28bn in deposits , operating more than 40 branches in Wisconsin and four full-service banking centers in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona.

Under the terms of the agreement, AB&T will assume the ownership of the bank’s four Arizona branches, which held deposits of about $362m and loans of $186m as of the end-March 2020.

Upon completion of the deal, AB&T will operate 10 branches in the state and will also become Heartland’s eighth subsidiary to cross a billion in assets with nearly $1.2bn in assets.

As of 31 March, AB&T had about $866m in total assets and $754m in deposits, operating six full-service branches in the East Valley of the Phoenix market.

Heartland claims that after completing the current deal and the previously announced deal to acquire AIM Bancshares in Texas, its total assets will be more than $15bn with 144 full-service branches operating across 12 states.

The deal is subject to approval from both federal and state bank regulators and other customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.

Johnson Financial Group president and CEO Jim Popp said: “We have tremendous respect for the team at Heartland and their community banking values. Heartland’s culture is very similar to Johnson Financial Group’s culture in the way in which it engages its employees, serves its customers, and supports its communities.

“We look forward to the successful transition of our business to a local partner. Our Arizona team has been an integral part of the JFG family for more than 30 years. We are thankful to our Arizona associates for building a strong, vibrant, diversified business in one of the most dynamic growth markets in the country.”