Deal expands bank's consumer direct mortgage platform and customer base
First Federal Bank has completed its acquisition of the mortgage business and operations of BNC National Bank, with around 70 former BNC employees joining First Federal as part of the transaction.
John Medina, president and CEO of First Federal Bank, said the bank gained a nationwide consumer direct mortgage platform and an expanded customer base in new markets through the deal.
“This acquisition expands our commitment to customers and the residential mortgage sector. We look forward to serving the new mortgage customers with the same excellence they enjoyed from the BNC team,” Medina said.
First Federal – which originates loans nationwide with mortgage processing centers in Georgia, Wisconsin, and Florida – confirmed it has also acquired BNC’s 70-employee mortgage team.
“We welcome the new employees to our residential lending team and look forward to helping more customers enjoy the benefits of homeownership,” said Paul Ottendorf, president of First Federal’s residential lending division.
“BNC National Bank’s mortgage division team looks forward to offering new and enhanced products to our customers as First Federal Bank Mortgage Lenders,” said Doug Brendel, president of mortgage banking at BNC.
The acquisition, first announced two months ago, includes the sale of certain assets and liabilities of BNC’s residential lending division. The North Dakota-based bank operates community, mortgage banking, and wealth management businesses in Arizona, Minnesota, and North Dakota, and other locations in the Midwest.
In its release, BNC said it will continue facilitating residential mortgage loans for its bank and wealth management customers as part of its community banking activities.
“We are pleased to have completed the sale of our residential mortgage business,” BNCC chairman Michael Vekich said. “The transaction lets us focus more intently on our core banking activities to the benefit of our shareholders and the communities that we serve. I particularly want to thank our mortgage business employees for the contributions the unit made over the years and wish them well as they move forward as a part of First Federal.”
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