First Western, BlackRidgeBANK sign acquisition agreement

First Western Bank & Trust plans to acquire a Fargo-based banking company and expand its operations to 15 locations in 11 communities.

First Western announced this week that its holding company, Westbrand, Inc., has entered an agreement with BlackRidge Financial, the holding company of BlackRidgeBank, whereby Westbrand will acquire BlackRidge Financial and merge the operations under the First Western Bank & Trust name. The acquisition still must be approved by regulators, but approval is expected in the fourth quarter of this year, with all banks coming under the First Western brand in the first quarter of 2020.

Brenda Foster, president & CEO of First Western, said having a banking footprint from Minot to Minneapolis will increase customers’ access to services.

“It gives us an actual physical presence,” she said. “A lot of people say banks are going away, but we just find that our customers really appreciate having the brick and mortar when they need to come in to visit – that they have people in their community they are able to do that with.”

Read more: https://www.minotdailynews.com/news/local-news/2019/07/first-western-blackridgebank-sign-acquisition-agreement/