FNBO in talks with Chase?

[Guest]

I herd from somebody that knows some high ups at First National that there has been talks between them and Chase. Not sure if it would be a complete sale or just the card business. I know there has already been rumblings out there Chase wants to get into the market, I guess this would do it. Losing TD Ameritrade and FNBO would not be good for Omaha. Hope this just stays a rumor.

[bigredmed1]

Talked with people at FNBO and they denied any merger talk.

[jomaha9]

I work at FNBO. Not happening.

[Bob from Omaha]

You know, in my experience when they vehemently, categorically deny is about a day before they announce the merger, sale, closing, etc.

[bigredmed1]

You know, in my experience when they vehemently, categorically deny is about a day before they announce the merger, sale, closing, etc.

Chase is opening banks in Lincoln and wants to open some branches in Omaha.

[damonhynes]

You know, in my experience when they vehemently, categorically deny is about a day before they announce the merger, sale, closing, etc.

Eggzactly. That's the job of Investor Relations / Corporate Communications--Say 'no' 666 times/hour until you're told to say 'yes', then everything that happened before 'yes' never happened.

[Original]

When I grew up, my dad was the head of accounting + M&A for a bank similarly composed to FBNO (private family ownership of holding company), and I had a lot of exposure to bank acquisitions. So not a practioner of this stuff by any means, but had a lot of exposure to the theory behind it.

The Lauritzen family ownership structure means that they have defacto control of FNBO, as far as I can tell and remember about their current structure. Lauritzen Corp also owns a large number of other banks, and Clark Lauritzen just became president of FNBO 3 years ago at 40. Them selling to chase would represent a major change to their family and how they seem to see themselves in the community and it's hard for me to see Lauritzens selling FNBO operations outright to Chase. Maybe they divest part of the card business, maybe Chase has been trying to see what it would take to buy FNBO (I bet that number was pretty high). FNBO is in a unique place in the banking business, being the largest privately held bank (by assets) in the U.S., and Lauritzens have run it in a way that doesn't merge the other banks that their family acquires into it, which can lead to speculation that they are going to sell it, but it seems unlikely.

Contrast that to TDAmeritrade, where the Ricketts family had long ago taken the company public and merging it with entities all over the country already meant that it did not have the sense of place that FNBO does.

[damonhynes]

When I grew up, my dad was the head of accounting + M&A for a bank similarly composed to FBNO (private family ownership of holding company), and I had a lot of exposure to bank acquisitions. So not a practioner of this stuff by any means, but had a lot of exposure to the theory behind it.

The Lauritzen family ownership structure means that they have defacto control of FNBO, as far as I can tell and remember about their current structure. Lauritzen Corp also owns a large number of other banks, and Clark Lauritzen just became president of FNBO 3 years ago at 40. Them selling to chase would represent a major change to their family and how they seem to see themselves in the community and it's hard for me to see Lauritzens selling FNBO operations outright to Chase. Maybe they divest part of the card business, maybe Chase has been trying to see what it would take to buy FNBO (I bet that number was pretty high). FNBO is in a unique place in the banking business, being the largest privately held bank (by assets) in the U.S., and Lauritzens have run it in a way that doesn't merge the other banks that their family acquires into it, which can lead to speculation that they are going to sell it, but it seems unlikely.

Contrast that to TDAmeritrade, where the Ricketts family had long ago taken the company public and merging it with entities all over the country already meant that it did not have the sense of place that FNBO does.

That's my take as well, and while unlikely, the Lauritzens run the risk of being hoisted upon their own petard with an insistence upon being independent. Chase (or BOFA or CITI) could start a scorched-earth campaign to run FNBO out of business--price/service wars, 100 Omaha branches, etc. I don't see that happening anytime soon, and the Lauritzens have an enviable position--now.

Truth is, Omaha isn't worth fighting that hard over. Chase has a scalable infrastructure in place so picking off a few Omaha clients here and there doesn't blow up their business model.

[Omaha Cowboy]

When I grew up, my dad was the head of accounting + M&A for a bank similarly composed to FBNO (private family ownership of holding company), and I had a lot of exposure to bank acquisitions. So not a practioner of this stuff by any means, but had a lot of exposure to the theory behind it.

The Lauritzen family ownership structure means that they have defacto control of FNBO, as far as I can tell and remember about their current structure. Lauritzen Corp also owns a large number of other banks, and Clark Lauritzen just became president of FNBO 3 years ago at 40. Them selling to chase would represent a major change to their family and how they seem to see themselves in the community and it's hard for me to see Lauritzens selling FNBO operations outright to Chase. Maybe they divest part of the card business, maybe Chase has been trying to see what it would take to buy FNBO (I bet that number was pretty high). FNBO is in a unique place in the banking business, being the largest privately held bank (by assets) in the U.S., and Lauritzens have run it in a way that doesn't merge the other banks that their family acquires into it, which can lead to speculation that they are going to sell it, but it seems unlikely.

Contrast that to TDAmeritrade, where the Ricketts family had long ago taken the company public and merging it with entities all over the country already meant that it did not have the sense of place that FNBO does.

Unless any of us are in the closed meeting board room, no one can say with certainty that FNBO and Chase haven’t been talking..

That said, I agree completely with this post..and would be highly disappointed to see it happen...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[Ben]

First National has been known to buy / sell packaged credit card portfolios on occasion. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they sell of a portion of credit card portfolio to Chase.

[Omahacritic]

Ben makes sense.

In my years I’ve seen a couple of large family owned banks get sold to larger banks. The reason had to do with inheritance taxes. The taxes couldn’t be paid unless without selling. And they got better value selling before they were forced.

I admit I know nothing of how the family ownership is structured. Or 2020 tax law on banks. But it’s just a thought.

Worrying about Chase forcing their way in. Not likely. There are easier targets if they want market share.

[3rdEyeBlind]

Anyone heard any rumors about FNBO? Hearing some things that make me wonder if they are setting up to sell.

[Bomaha]

I know they are getting hit hard now financially. Anecdotes from current workers. I think layoffs are bound to happen if they haven't already started.

[Bob from Omaha]

I know they are getting hit hard now financially. Anecdotes from current workers. I think layoffs are bound to happen if they haven't already started.

I just looked at their latest financial statements & they're doing just fine. The sky isn't falling.

[Greg S]

Sounds like there were some layoffs at FNBO on Friday.

[Athomsfere]

Sounds like there were some layoffs at FNBO on Friday.

I mean, we are probably going to see a few rounds of that in Omaha over the next year or two.

There is still a split on what the next year or two is going to look like at the macro level... But with even remote work probably getting thinner and a million other odd post covid things... I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear many local companies of size do at least one round of layoffs...