VersaBank Seeks Canada’s Permission for Stearns Bank Acquisition After US Approval

VersaBank needs only one more regulatory approval to proceed with its acquisition of Stearns Bank Holdingford.

The bank received approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Friday (June 14) — marking the second and final U.S. regulatory approval it needs for the acquisition — and it will now seek approval from its Canadian regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), VersaBank said in a Friday press release.

“Upon VersaBank’s receipt of OSFI approval, it will proceed to close the Stearns Holdingford acquisition as soon as possible,” the release said.

This announcement comes one week after VersaBank reported that it received its first U.S. regulatory approval for the acquisition from the Federal Reserve.

“OCC approval of our proposed acquisition of Stearns Holdingford is a critical milestone in the process of taking our unique and highly successful Receivable Purchase Program (RPP) to the largest financing market in the world,” David Taylor, president and CEO of VersaBank, said in the Friday press release. “Having proven out the value of our innovative and proprietary RPP financing solution in Canada, our acquisition of Stearns Holdingford, a national, federally licensed U.S. bank, will enable us to pursue a methodical, phased rollout of this solution across the U.S.”

VersaBank’s RPP is a digital funding solution for finance companies that lend money to consumers and small businesses for big-ticket purchases like home improvement and HVAC projects and commercial equipment, according to the release.

Kelly Skalicky, president and CEO of Stearns Financial, said in the release that company looks forward to being able to proceed with the closing of the acquisition and continuing to work with VersaBank on other opportunities in the future.

“It is a testament to the diligence and integrity of the VersaBank team and the strength and soundness of their banking model that VersaBank’s acquisition of Stearns Holdingford was approved by both the OCC and the Fed, providing VersaBank the opportunity to bring successful solutions and positively contribute to our local communities and the larger U.S. financing sector by delivering their well-established, proven Receivable Purchase Program and innovative financing offerings,” Skalicky said in the release.

VersaBank announced its proposed acquisition of Stearns Bank Holdingford in June 2022, saying at the time that while the deal was subject to regulatory approval in both the U.S. and Canada, it expected the closing of the acquisition to be completed by Oct. 31, 2022.