Credit union-bank deals reach another record-setting mark in 2024

A total of 14 credit union acquisitions of banks have been announced in 2024, tying the annual record set in 2022, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

The 2024 transactions had already set the annual high-water mark for most assets being sold in CU-bank deals. That record-setting total reached $8.24 billion after the August announcements of Spokane Teachers CU's pending acquisition of $548.5 million-in-assets Community Bank and U.S. Eagle FCU's pending acquisition of $474.5 million-in-assets Southwest Capital Bank. Based on target assets, those deals rank as the 16th and 20th largest CU-bank deals since 2019.

Target metrics

A greater number of larger CU-bank deals have come to market in 2024 as nine of the 14 deals announced rank among the 20 largest transactions since 2019. The targets in the 14 CU-bank deals announced in 2022 had $5.15 billion in total assets, and only five of the deals rank among the largest 20.

The 14 bank targets so far this year had a median return on average assets of 0.78%, a median net interest margin of 3.56%, a median efficiency ratio of 72.34% and median charge-offs of 0.0%. The 14 banks also experienced a median of 1.5% in deposit shrinkage year over year and 3.4% loan growth during the same period. Notably, Southwest Capital Bank had the largest year-over-year deposit increase of the group at 16.7%.

State of CU-bank deals

Spokane Teachers CU's deal for Joseph, Ore.-based Community Bank is the second such transaction in Oregon since 2015, and U.S. Eagle FCU's deal for Albuquerque, N.M.-based Southwest Capital is the second in New Mexico since 2015. In that same time period, the states with the most credit union-bank deals are Florida with 16, Illinois with 13 and Georgia with 10. Washington has also emerged as a hub of credit union-bank deal activity in 2024, with five of the six such deals in the state since 2015 announced this year.