Cache Bank sale OK’d by state

GREELEY — Cache Bank & Trust will be sold to Mountain Valley Bank in a deal approved by state and federal regulators and set to close in mid-December, the president of the buyer told BizWest.

The Colorado State Banking Board approved the acquisition on Oct. 21. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve granted the waiver of application on the acquisition Oct. 8. The proposed deal was first announced Aug. 27.

Cache has $115 million in assets and Mountain Valley has about $350 million, Mountain Valley Bank President Wade Gebhardt said.

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Cache is based in Greeley and has a second branch in Fort Collins. Mountain Valley is based in Walden and has one location each in Meeker and Hayden and two in Steamboat Springs.

The new, combined Mountain Valley Bank is part of a multi-state system with some $2 billion in assets. The holding company is Scottsbluff, Nebraska-based Platte Valley Financial Service Cos., which also is present in Nebraska and Wyoming. Nebraska has about half the assets; Wyoming and Colorado the rest.

Each state’s system is separately organized to maintain focus, Gebhardt said.

“It keeps us responsive to the community,” he said. “It allows the regulatory agency to be the state in which we operate” which helps with clients and employees and makes it easier for the bank to respond to some state banking initiatives.

Gebhardt said the geographic area now “surrounds the North Front Range” with new locations possible to fill gaps.

“We’re committed to continuing our growth,” he said.

A Platte Valley spokesperson said, “where we are in Colorado and Wyoming fits nicely in our footprint.”

Service synergies include expanding Mountain Valley work in trusts, investments and insurance to new clients. Gebhardt also cited Platte Valley’s residential mortgage work in affordable housing lending as a positive part of the deal.

Cache has been for sale for a couple of years.

The state banking board in January 2020 denied a bid by Boulder-based Elevations Credit Union to buy it, voting 6-1, with two members absent, against a deal. It said state law doesn’t allow a credit union to buy a bank. Cache Bank & Trust had a Denver location at the time.

Gebhardt said of the current deal, “They could’ve continued independently but the board was looking at … upcoming investments in technology … there were a lot of synergies in finding an acquisition partner.”

Cache Bank & Trust President Byron Bateman said in the August announcement, “We believe this … will be a positive opportunity for our company’s employee team and customers.”

State regulators voted unanimously in favor of the deal, Gebhardt said.

Gebhardt and Platte Valley declined to give a value for the all-stock purchase.

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