The $629 million Clearview Federal Credit Union of Pittsburgh completed a merger pact this week with the $61 million A-K Valley FCU of Lower Burrell, Pa. providing Clearview 11,000 new members and four new branches in Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties.
The merger with Clearview comes after the husband-wife management team operating A-K first signaled their intent two years ago to retire from the CU, which maintains historical and employee ties to Alcoa Corp.
Janet Horn, president/CEO of A-K, and her husband, Lanny, chief operating and chief financial officer, had notified the board in 2008 of their plans to leave the CU pending the CU finding replacements, said a Clearview spokeswoman. During the interim, A-K had considered mergers with various Pennsylvania CUs eventually picking Clearview, she said.
A-K with a 7.15% capital ratio has been in healthy condition sustaining break-even status this year while Clearview, also healthy and with 78,000 members, has maintained an 11.95% capital ratio. Members of A-K approved the merger with Clearview in June, made official July 31.
In welcoming A-K as a merger partner, Mark Brennan, president/CEO of Clearview, said there are no other mergers in the offing though Clearview would consider opportunities should they arise.
He said many both large and small CUs in Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the nation remain overwhelmed by compliance and regulatory burdens, which he said are "challenging and stressful." These conditions, he said, are bound to bring on more industry consolidation "as well as more CUSO formations and expansion" in the coming months and on that Clearview expects to play a role.
