FB&T to acquire Duke Financial banks

Merger allows FB&T to expand in Minnesota

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BROOKINGS – Brookings-based First Bank & Trust (FB&T) has announced the signing of an agreement to acquire two banks, Peoples Bank of Commerce and State Bank of New Prague, both owned by the Duke Financial Group (DFG) of Minneapolis.

Peoples Bank of Commerce, with assets of $296 million, has locations in Cambridge, Princeton, East Bethel, Edina and Roseville, Minn. State Bank of New Prague has one location and assets of $112 million. With the acquisition, the name of the banks will change to First Bank & Trust.

“When considering an acquisition, our strategy has been to focus on banks in and around growing markets,” said Kevin Tetzlaff, president of First Bank & Trust, Brookings. “The addition of Peoples Bank and State Bank will allow us to expand our presence in Minnesota with locations that have strong ties to their communities.”

Tetzlaff said FB&T was attracted to Peoples Bank of Commerce and State Bank of New Prague because of the quality of their management and employees, as well as their commitment to community banking.

“We think we have a common philosophy that our customers are best served by bankers who are responsive and empowered to make decisions locally,” he said.

Chairman David Hyduke said DFG is pleased to partner with First Bank & Trust and views it as an opportunity to continue serving their communities while offering clients additional products and services.

“First Bank & Trust is a first-rate community bank, and our values are strongly aligned, which will make it easier to integrate our banks and allow our customers to continue working with the same staff they already have in their community,” Hyduke said.

Hyduke credited FB&T’s culture and employee-ownership as the biggest draw for DFG in this merger, as well as the Fishback family’s 135-year commitment to community banking.

With the acquisition, which still requires DFG shareholder and regulatory approval, First Bank & Trust will have assets of more than $1.7 billion.

David Waligoske, president and CEO of Fishback Financial Corporation (FFC), the holding company that owns FB&T, said this acquisition will enable First Bank & Trust to better compete regionally.

“With Peoples Bank and State Bank joining our family, we can seamlessly blend the best of both organizations and bring an expanded offering of financial services to the area,” Waligoske said. “In addition our staff has ownership through our (employee stock ownership plan), and we believe this employee ownership creates an additional level of pride to help maintain our high-performing company.”

The transaction is set to close in late 2017. FFC has total assets of $2.3 billion and is the parent company of FB&T, which has South Dakota locations in Milbank, Stockholm, Vermillion, Toronto and White, along with a bank in Pipestone, Minn.

FFC also owns First Bank & Trust, Sioux Falls, with locations in Watertown, Garretson, Madison and Canton.