Posted on

Iowa-based banking company to purchase State Bank offices

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

State Bank, including the Charles City and New Hampton offices, is being purchased by another Iowa-based banking company, it was announced today (Friday).

James Kennedy Jr., the president of Fidelity Co., announced that a “definitive agreement” had been signed for Fidelity to acquire the eight State Bank offices in Charles City, Calmar, Dike, Janesville, New Hampton, Ossian and two branches in Waverly.

Fidelity Co. is a holding company for 25 banks operating under the Fidelity Bank & Trust and Community State Bank names. It has four Community State Bank branches in southeastern Iowa, and 21 banks under the Fidelity Bank & Trust name in eastern Iowa, southwest Wisconsin and western Illinois, Kennedy told the Press.

Patrick Gebel
Patrick Gebel

Fidelity Co. has its headquarters in Dubuque.

Patrick Gebel, who lives in Charles City and is the president and chief operating officer for State Bank, said it would be “business as usual” for the State Bank offices.

“They operate similarly to how we do it — as a locally owned community bank,” Gebel told the Press. “I’m very thankful that it’s another family-owned bank, that’s for sure.”

Gebel said the Charles City staff had been informed of the sale and he didn’t anticipate any changes in employment or services.

“It will be the same names, same local faces, same services and same decisions — business as usual,” he said.

Gebel started with State Bank in 1999 in New Hampton and in 2006 opened and managed the Charles City office. In 2014 he was named president of four of the offices including Charles City, and this year in January he was named president and COO of all the State Bank locations.

Gebel said the banks will continue to operate under the State Bank name at least into the new year and perhaps longer.

“They’ll operate us independently for a while,” he said. “It would be difficult to change names all by the end of the year, so just for convenience sake and efficiency reasons nobody is going to rush that process.

“The sale will happen by year-end, but we’ll stay State Bank for now and at some point in time down the road we’ll adopt their name.”

Kennedy, the Fidelity Co. president, said the acquisition of State Bank represents $380 million in total assets and the combination of Fidelity and State banks will have more than $1.3 billion in assets, making it the 10th largest bank holding company in Iowa.

John Rigler II, the chairman and CEO of State Bank, said, “After 81 years with State Bank the Rigler family was very careful in selecting a buyer. The Kennedys, with their similar history and commitment to rural Iowa, rose to the top of our list.

“It was a very easy decision, given their commitment and culture,” Rigler said.

Kennedy said, “Our cultures are very similar in terms of working in partnership with our customers to find the best products and services based on shared values.

“The Rigler family and the employees of State Bank have done an extraordinary job over multiple generations to build an outstanding organization,” Kennedy said. “We are very excited to become part of these communities.”

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval, which is expected to happen yet this year. The sale is an all-cash transaction and the purchase price was not disclosed.

 

Social Share

LATEST NEWS