Sunflower Financial, Strategic Growth Bancorp plan to merge 

Kansas-based Sunflower Financial Inc. and Texas-based Strategic Growth Bancorp Inc. on Thursday said the two bank-holding companies plan to merge, forming the third-largest Colorado-headquartered banking institution by total assets.

Last year, Sunflower Financial and Denver-based First Western Financial Inc., called off a merger a day after the Colorado Division of Banking approved the merger.

The new company, yet to be named, will have approximately $4 billion in banking assets with approximately $3 billion in both net loans and deposits, creating a super-community bank with a footprint exceeding 60 offices in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico and Texas.

The corporate headquarters for the combined company will be in Denver with office functions remaining in Salina, Kan., New Mexico and Texas.

The merger includes the holding companies and their respective banking entities, Sunflower Bank NA, First National Bank of Santa Fe and Capital Bank SSB, as well as Guardian Mortgage Co. Inc.

In Colorado, Sunflower has locations in Longmont, Boulder, Denver, Monte Vista, Pueblo, Canon City and Greenwood Village.

Strategic Growth Bancorp is the parent company of First National Bank of Santa Fe, Capital Bank SSB and Guardian Mortgage Co. Inc. First National Bank of Santa Fe operates as First National Santa Fe and First National Rio Grande in New Mexico, and First National Denver in Colorado.  First National Denver has two branches in Longmont, and one each in Boulder and Loveland.

It is unclear which, if any, branches will be merged.

Mollie Hale Carter, current chairman and chief executive of Sunflower, will serve as chief executive and president of the combined holding company and CEO of the bank. William D. Sanders, current chairman of SGB, will serve as co-chairman of the holding company. William P. Sanders, current chairman of First National Bank of Santa Fe and Capital Bank, will be the chief operating officer of the holding company with responsibility for the mortgage and wealth-management businesses and interim president of the bank.

The board of directors of the combined holding company will have 10 members, comprised of an equal number of appointments from Sunflower and SGB.

“We believe we are merging two very special organizations that will have the capital and earnings power to continue to grow and successfully provide our clients with a unique community banking experience,” Hale Carter said in a prepared statement. “We have each invested heavily in our franchises and fee businesses that will benefit from this increased scale.”

Sanders added, “We are excited to be in a position to combine these two banking enterprises each with a heritage of century-old community ties.  We will bring the strength of a larger organization while maintaining locally informed decision making.”

As of June 30, Sunflower Financial had $1.8 billion in total assets, $1.4 billion in deposits and $197 million of equity capital as of June 30, 2016.  Strategic Growth Bancorp had $2.2 billion in total assets, $1.7 billion in deposits and $283 million of equity capital.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. provided certain financial advisory assistance for the transaction. Nelson Mullins Riley Scarborough LLP served as legal counsel for Sunflower, and Davis Polk & Wardell LLP served as legal counsel for SGB.

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