President & Chief Operating Officer, OLD NATIONAL BANCORP
Old National CEO Details $6.5B Acquisition Deal
Evansville-based Old National Bancorp has announced it is acquiring Chicago-based First Midwest Bank in an all-stock transition ...
About Mark Sander
Mark Sander, President and Chief Operating Officer at Old National Bancorp, was involved in the bank's 2021 announcement of a $6.5 billion all-stock acquisition of First Midwest Bancorp. The deal was described as creating the sixth-largest bank in the Midwest with $45 billion in assets. Sander stated that the merger would strengthen the bank's footprint, particularly by adding the Chicago market, and would allow the combined company to invest more in talent and technology. He noted that the Old National name would remain and that the combined bank would be headquartered in Evansville, Indiana. In a 2016 Rotary Club interview, Sander discussed his personal background, including being born in London and moving to the United States as a child. He spoke about his career path, which included work as an options trader in San Francisco and Chicago, and his eventual move into the mortgage industry. Sander also described his involvement with Rotary, saying he valued the fellowship and friendships he had made through the club, and noted that his grandfather had been a Rotarian in Seattle.
Transcript (15 segments)
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Gerry Dick0:03
Hello and welcome to Inside Indiana Business. I'm Gerry Dick. We begin this week with big banking news. Old National Bancorp and First Midwest Bancorp announcing plans to merge in an all-stock deal valued at $6.5 billion. It would create the sixth-largest bank in the Midwest, with $45 billion in assets. With details on what the deal means for Evansville and Indiana, I'm pleased to welcome Old National Chairman and CEO Jim Ryan. Thanks for joining us. I know you're in Chicago. Thanks for joining us and congratulations on the deal.
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Jim Ryan0:43
Thank you. Always great to be with you. We appreciate your support.
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Gerry Dick0:47
Let's talk about this. A big deal certainly for Old National. It would create a banking company with combined assets of $45 billion, the sixth-largest bank in the Midwest. When this started, how did this deal start to come together?
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Jim Ryan1:06
The courtship started back in January of this year, where Mike, who is the CEO and Chairman of First Midwest, came for a visit. We were talking about what we were doing independently and how we were creating value for all our stakeholders. In that conversation, we realized we might be able to do this together and better than we could do it individually. So we started conversations about how to get better individually, and that turned into how we get better collectively.
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Gerry Dick1:34
This creates a large banking institution. To close the deal by the end of the year, perhaps early next year, the sixth-largest bank in the Midwest, a top 30 company in the country. What does that mean when you look at the impact of a larger institution on Evansville and the state of Indiana?
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Jim Ryan1:57
I told the governor we are 100 percent committed to Evansville and Indiana. This means good things ultimately for Evansville and the broader state. It also allows us to serve so much business that moves back and forth in the Midwest, serve a larger client base in a bigger and better way, invest in more talent and technology to deliver better experiences, and reinvest back in our communities.
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Gerry Dick2:28
Deals like this have efficiencies to be had. As you look at the tea leaves of this deal, the Old National name remains, the Old National brand will be used, and you will continue to be CEO of the combined bank and be in Evansville. So I think a lot of things apply in a positive way in terms of the impact on Evansville and Indiana.
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Jim Ryan2:55
Absolutely. We've grown a lot in the last ten years and have leveraged the best of all of our partnerships. This is no different. We will have a lot of assets and customers in the Chicago metropolitan market. We will leverage those across the entire franchise, and it serves to strengthen our company. This year we turn 187 years old, and I see my job to make sure we are around for another 187 years.
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Gerry Dick3:27
What does it mean for the bank? You are adding your largest market in Chicago and throughout Indiana and multiple states, but Chicago is a very large market. What does that bring to the bank?
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Jim Ryan3:39
If you look at the GDP, it's phenomenal for the size of this market. The number of small businesses that are here today that open each day, if you look at the household wealth, it's phenomenal and the best in the Midwest and one of the strongest markets in the entire country. For us, we have a significant presence in some large operations in Minneapolis, Madison, and Milwaukee. So this helps our legacy footprint of serving Indiana and our newest markets in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. We are so excited to fill it in. It fills a significant gap we had in terms of our footprint.
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Gerry Dick4:23
Any particular segment of the bank that benefits more from this? The commercial lending segment? Any particular segment of banking to benefit from this combination?
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Jim Ryan4:35
Absolutely. We do a few things better than we do, and one thing they do well is they have some niche businesses, particularly in the commercial space. We will be able to leverage those across the entire footprint and be better experts at some of those businesses. We will also have one of the seventh-largest wealth management platforms, with $30 billion of assets under management when we put the companies together. So excited about delivering a better wealth management experience for all clients.
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Gerry Dick5:07
Twenty seconds left, but closer to your home in Evansville and southwest Indiana, there's a lot of momentum there. Massive expansion continues at Toyota, very global, and a lot of things happening close to home. You have to be happy about it.
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Jim Ryan5:23
It's fantastic. It's part of the success story of Indiana. What I'm really proud of is all of our leaders have come together on the public and private side to turn out for us. How do we make southwest Indiana a better part of our state, and how do we make sure everybody shares equally in those opportunities?
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Gerry Dick5:45
Jim Ryan, the CEO and Chairman, a big merger deal.