This Familiar Brand Could Now Vanish From Minnesota
It's been a familiar brand here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes since 1943, but it will likely soon be disappearing from Minnesota.
It's not every day that a business that has been around for over 80 years suddenly announces it's closing up shop and moving on. Certainly, businesses closing or going out of business is something the Bold North has been a little too familiar with lately. CBS News reported earlier this year that almost 3,200 brick-and-mortar stores have permanently closed so far in 2024, a 24 percent increase from 2023.
This case is a bit different, however, as the familiar business and brand we're talking about isn't closing-- it's being acquired by another business, but the name we've all known for years here in the North Star State will likely soon be as extinct as a dinosaur.
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That's likely what's happening to Bremer Bank. That familiar financial institution was founded in St. Paul by Otto Bremer, a German immigrant who came to Minnesota in 1886. After working in the banking industry for over 36 years, founded Bremer Bank in 1943.
Today, Banking Dive notes Bremer Bank is a major farm lender that has $16.2 billion in assets, $11.5 billion in loans, and $13.2 billion in deposits. It currently has over 70 branches in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota.
So why it possibly going away? It's because Bremer Bank has agreed to be acquired by Old National Bank, an Evansville, Indiana-based bank. The deal, worth $1.4 billion, will make Old National the third-largest bank in the Twin Cities. Old National Bank currently has 31 locations in Minnesota and first entered the Gopher State when it bought St. Paul-based Anchor Bank back in 2017, Banking Dive said.
That deal is expected to be completed in mid-2025, contingent on regulatory approvals and Bremer shareholders’ consent, Banking Dive reported. Once it is, the Otto Bremer Trust, the parent company of Bremer Bank, will have about an 11 percent ownership stake in Old National Bank, and a trustee will join Old National’s board.
While the Banking Dive story did not specifically say the Bremer Bank brand would be replaced by the Old National Bank brand, that's what has often happened in similar transactions. We will likely know more as the deal is finalized next year.
Businesses closing their doors and changing their names has always been a thing, even if there have been more of them recently. Keep scrolling to see some once-popular brands that have closed their doors for good and are no longer around.
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