Wells Fargo To Sell 52 Retail Bank Branches To Flagstar Bancorp

(RTTNews) - Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) said Tuesday that it agreed to sell 52 retail bank branches to Flagstar Bank, FSB, a subsidiary of Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. (FBC).

The sale comprises all Wells Fargo branches in Indiana (33), Michigan (14) and Ohio (1), and a small number of Wisconsin branches (4), and involves approximately 490 team members, all of whom will receive offers of employment from Flagstar.

Wells Fargo has previously shared its plan to reduce retail bank branches to approximately 5,000 branches by the end of 2020, through consolidations and divestitures. The transaction comprises approximately $2.3 billion in deposits and is expected to close in the fourth quarter 2018, subject to customary regulatory approvals. Flagstar Bancorp said it expects the transaction will be moderately accretive to 2019 earnings per share.

At closing, Flagstar expects to have 151 branches in the Midwest and eight in California. The transaction brings liquidity that the Company can use to repay short-term Federal Home Loan Bank advances. Longer term, a larger branch network will expand access to core deposits and other business opportunities.

The branches to be acquired will operate as Wells Fargo branches until closing, and will be re-branded as Flagstar branches immediately upon closing of the transaction. Flagstar intends to keep all branches and retain all employees at closing.