Anchor Bank of St. Paul is buying Voyager Bank of Eden Prairie, which has struggled with management turmoil and lagging financial performance in recent years.
The acquisition of "substantially all" of the assets of Voyager would make Anchor Bank the sixth-largest Twin Cities bank, with combined assets of $1.7 billion and 19 locations.
Anchor President Jeff Hawkins said in an interview Tuesday that the Voyager purchase will give Anchor a markedly expanded presence in the southwest Twin Cities suburbs through offices in Eden Prairie, Minnetonka and Shakopee. Voyager also operates a Mankato office.
Anchor declined to specify the price it will pay for Voyager, which has stockholder equity of $29.5 million, according to filings with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC).
Anchor, with loans and other assets of $1.44 billion, is the larger, financially stronger institution.
The last couple of years, Voyager — with assets of $336 million — has earned less than a 0.5 percent return on assets and 5 percent return on equity, below average in the postrecession banking business.
"We've acquired nearly all of their loans," Hawkins said. "Their asset quality today is very strong. They've done a good job the last couple of years. Their asset quality and loan types match up with ours very well. That was very appealing."
Voyager, which had net income of $1 million in the first nine months of this year, has 65 employees.
