Freedom Bank announces merger with Monett bank
January 8, 2020
Vinnie Roberts
This week, Barry County-based banking chain Freedom Bank announced that parent company, Freedom Bancshares of Southern Missouri, would be absorbing another local bank, Community National Bank (CNB), of Monett. Both banks have entered into an agreement and, following a vote from the CNB’s shareholders and approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), will soon merge into one entity.
According to an official announcement made by Freedom Bank on Thursday, January 2, once the merger is complete, Community National Bank’s finances, customers, employees and locations will become a part of Freedom Bank. CNB currently has two locations, one in Monett and the other in Aurora, which will both be rebranded as Freedom Bank locations.
The press release went on to state once the merger is complete, Freedom Bank’s estimated total assets will be approximately $430 million, $367 million in deposits and loan values of approximately $326 million.
In this merger, the president and CEOs of Freedom Bank, Stan Kelley, and CNB, Darrin Newbold will work together to bring their combined 70 plus years of experience to all of the now seven locations in the Freedom network. According to Kelley, he will remain president and CEO of Freedom Bank overall, with Newbold remaining as president of both the Monett and Aurora locations.
Freedom CEO Stan Kelley stated that this merger has been in the works for close to 15 months. Kelley stated that the idea came about after some deliberation with CNB president and CEO Darrin Newbold on how to improve both the reach and cost-effectiveness of both banks.
“Darren and I are good friends,” explained Kelley. “We worked together prior to this and have had a friendship over the years.”
Kelley continued, explaining that as these talks went on, both parties agreed that the right move would be combining the banks into one entity, effectively increasing the combined entity’s reach to a total of three counties.
“It helps us to be in the northern part of Barry County and Lawrence County,” Kelley continued. “We are currently in Willard now, and being in Lawrence and, ultimately, western Greene County, is going to bring us a lot of business.”
According to Kelley, integration of the CNB team will have its hurdles, but the areas in which they cover have a wide variety of similarities.
“There’s a lot of similarities between the two counties,” explained Kelley. “We both have a large agriculture and small industries. We think that the strengths that they have will go very well with ours and vice-versa.”
“The main changes will be all the training going on between the two banks,” Kelley continued. “They have different software that they use, so there will be some training. We will be working on a conversion over to one kind of system and that’s going to take some time.
“They have some good quality associates and so do we,” Kelley explained. “When you blend two good teams together, you’re going to see benefits. We have strengths in certain areas and lending specialties and his team has their own specialities.”
According to Kelley, another benefit of the merger will be the reduction in yearly costs associated with running the facilities.
“When you have two banks under two names running at once, you’ve got a lot expenses.” Kelley stated. “When we blend them together, that will help us consolidate those expenses and save more.”
Key factors that will save the institutions money are said to include yearly regulatory expenses, data processing fees and maintenance costs.
According to the announcement, the merger is anticipated to be complete in the second fiscal quarter of 2020, which is April through July. Kelley elaborated, explaining that the exact date can’t be announced yet, as the merger is subject to federal approval.
“It’s a moving target right now. We still need regulatory approval through the FDIC division of finance,” said Kelley. “Then, there’s a lot of preparatory work that goes into it. We’re hoping for a potential May or June opening, but it’s not set in stone yet.”
Kelley also stated that construction and cosmetic changes will also be implemented at both CNB locations in order to match Freedom Bank’s aesthetics.
For any further questions regarding the merger and its potential effects on customers, contact Freedom Bank’s main branch in Cassville at (417) 846-1719 or Community National Bank’s main location, in Monett at (417) 235-2265.
Vinnie Roberts
This week, Barry County-based banking chain Freedom Bank announced that parent company, Freedom Bancshares of Southern Missouri, would be absorbing another local bank, Community National Bank (CNB), of Monett. Both banks have entered into an agreement and, following a vote from the CNB’s shareholders and approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), will soon merge into one entity.
According to an official announcement made by Freedom Bank on Thursday, January 2, once the merger is complete, Community National Bank’s finances, customers, employees and locations will become a part of Freedom Bank. CNB currently has two locations, one in Monett and the other in Aurora, which will both be rebranded as Freedom Bank locations.
The press release went on to state once the merger is complete, Freedom Bank’s estimated total assets will be approximately $430 million, $367 million in deposits and loan values of approximately $326 million.
In this merger, the president and CEOs of Freedom Bank, Stan Kelley, and CNB, Darrin Newbold will work together to bring their combined 70 plus years of experience to all of the now seven locations in the Freedom network. According to Kelley, he will remain president and CEO of Freedom Bank overall, with Newbold remaining as president of both the Monett and Aurora locations.
Freedom CEO Stan Kelley stated that this merger has been in the works for close to 15 months. Kelley stated that the idea came about after some deliberation with CNB president and CEO Darrin Newbold on how to improve both the reach and cost-effectiveness of both banks.
“Darren and I are good friends,” explained Kelley. “We worked together prior to this and have had a friendship over the years.”
Kelley continued, explaining that as these talks went on, both parties agreed that the right move would be combining the banks into one entity, effectively increasing the combined entity’s reach to a total of three counties.
“It helps us to be in the northern part of Barry County and Lawrence County,” Kelley continued. “We are currently in Willard now, and being in Lawrence and, ultimately, western Greene County, is going to bring us a lot of business.”
According to Kelley, integration of the CNB team will have its hurdles, but the areas in which they cover have a wide variety of similarities.
“There’s a lot of similarities between the two counties,” explained Kelley. “We both have a large agriculture and small industries. We think that the strengths that they have will go very well with ours and vice-versa.”
“The main changes will be all the training going on between the two banks,” Kelley continued. “They have different software that they use, so there will be some training. We will be working on a conversion over to one kind of system and that’s going to take some time.
“They have some good quality associates and so do we,” Kelley explained. “When you blend two good teams together, you’re going to see benefits. We have strengths in certain areas and lending specialties and his team has their own specialities.”
According to Kelley, another benefit of the merger will be the reduction in yearly costs associated with running the facilities.
“When you have two banks under two names running at once, you’ve got a lot expenses.” Kelley stated. “When we blend them together, that will help us consolidate those expenses and save more.”
Key factors that will save the institutions money are said to include yearly regulatory expenses, data processing fees and maintenance costs.
According to the announcement, the merger is anticipated to be complete in the second fiscal quarter of 2020, which is April through July. Kelley elaborated, explaining that the exact date can’t be announced yet, as the merger is subject to federal approval.
“It’s a moving target right now. We still need regulatory approval through the FDIC division of finance,” said Kelley. “Then, there’s a lot of preparatory work that goes into it. We’re hoping for a potential May or June opening, but it’s not set in stone yet.”
Kelley also stated that construction and cosmetic changes will also be implemented at both CNB locations in order to match Freedom Bank’s aesthetics.
For any further questions regarding the merger and its potential effects on customers, contact Freedom Bank’s main branch in Cassville at (417) 846-1719 or Community National Bank’s main location, in Monett at (417) 235-2265.
