Maine State Credit Union, Midcoast FCU call off planned merger
File Photo / Tim Greenway
Midcoast FCU President/CEO Joe Gervais, pictured at the credit union's Freeport headquarters, said the decision to discontinue the merger with Maine State Credit Union was an amicable one.
A merger that would have created a new credit union with the second-largest assets of any in Maine has been called off amicably, both partners in the now-dead deal have said.
Maine State Credit Union and Midcoast Federal Credit Union agreed that proceeding with the merger “was not in the best interests of the members and employees,” the financial cooperatives said in written statements. The boards of each credit union decided not to move forward with the transaction despite it receiving regulatory approval to be voted on by members.
Maine State withdrew its application to merge and notified the Bureau of Financial Institutions of the change on March 17, according to a regulatory filing.
Maine State, based in Augusta, and Midcoast, which is headquartered in Freeport, announced their plans to merge in October 2020.
The combined entity would have kept the Maine State name, served 46,000 members, and operated eight branches between Freeport and Waterville. Combined assets would have been $727 million. That total is more than the assets of any credit union in the state except Brunswick-based Atlantic FCU, with $842 million, according to the 2020 Mainebiz Book of Lists.
No. 2 on the credit union list is currently Hampden-based Maine Savings FCU, with assets of $518 million, slightly more than Maine State.
Tucker Cole, Maine State’s president and CEO, said in a statement last week, “The challenge of bringing together two successful organizations is just that, both credit unions have been thriving individually and cultural alignment is difficult to achieve.”
Midcoast President and CEO Joe Gervais said, “All merger discussions ended amicably. We will continue to work collaboratively to promote the value of credit unions for Maine consumers.”
In an email to Mainebiz, he added, “We have no plans to seek another merger partner. However, we remain open to consider all opportunities that may enhance our value to our members.”
Likewise, Maine State has no current plans to merge elsewhere, spokeswoman Jennifer Roper said.
Credit unions in Maine have been undergoing a wave of M&A activity. Earlier this year, Penobscot County FCU and the County FCU merged, and Augusta-based Connected Credit Union and Winslow Community Federal Credit Union completed a merger last June.
In 2019, Infinity FCU of Westbrook planned a merger with an Illinois credit union, but ultimately quashed the deal. Infinity announced that it would merge with a different credit union in Illinois last October.
Maine's largest credit union took that title after the 2019 merger of Atlantic FCU and York County FCU.
Since 2006, the number of Maine credit unions has declined by 28%, while their combined assets have grown by 128%, closing in on $10 billion, Gervais said in October.
Maine Credit Union League President and CEO Todd Mason told Mainebiz at the time that the industry is continually looking at consolidations as a way of strengthening resources for members.
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