FARMINGTON, N.M.—Two New Mexico credit unions have announced plans to merge. The $149-million Animas CU said it will merge into the $2.9-billion Sandia Laboratory FCU, with plans to complete the combination by March 2021.
The merger comes at the same time ACU President/CEO Gary Sterton has announced plans to retire after 20 years.
“It’s an opportunity for us to enter into a market that we don’t currently have a presence, the Farmington area there,” SLFCU President/CEO Robert Chavez told the Farmington Daily Times. "We're the largest financial institution headquartered in the State of New Mexico. We're homegrown."
SLFCU has approximately 1,200 members in the market, according to Chavez.
The two credit unions said they are now seeking state and federal approvals on the merger.
“It’ll be a transparent process for them as the merger progresses,” Sterton told the publication. “I’ve known Robert for almost 20 years. I like how he operates. We’re very similar in our approach to business and how we run our credit union… It’s a win-win for employees and for our members.”
Chavez told the Farmington Times SLFCU is approaching $3 billion in assets, allowing it to extend products and services out to the Four Corners region of the state.
Pressures on Small CUs
Sterton said the current ACU field of membership is limited to those living and working in San Juan County, N.M.
“Certainly, this opens up more of the state to the credit union and service. The trend on the industry, unfortunately, is smaller credit unions are having a tough go of it because we don’t have the scale to get the pricing that Robert gets,” Sterton told the Times. “This merger allows us to charge lower loan rates, pay higher deposit rates, have products and services we don’t already have in our quiver.”