A two-year-old guide offered by Westerra Credit Union and NiceEnterprises Inc. to assist credit unions in gauging potentialmerger partners has gone online.

Officials of Denver-based Westerra and Nice said the “MergerKit” is now being distributed to CUs across the country via aWeb-based hookup allowing participants to update accounting,regulatory and financial data online.

Expanded information in the kit includes new and updatedaccounting requirements and the impact financial position andvaluation have on merger negotiations and decisions, said thefirms.

“This latest release is exclusively Web-based so that creditunions can now access the kit and its numerous resources fromanywhere, anytime with their credit union's password,” said astatement.

The kit “is a powerful one-of-a-kind resource that leads creditunions successfully through every step of a win-win merger,”explained Ron Nice, president of the Nice consulting firm, “It isstructured as both a plan to follow, as well as an extensiveresource toolbox for boards, CEOs and senior management teams todraw from throughout the entire merger process.”

C. Alan Peppers, president/CEO of Westerra, said about 40 CUsare now using the kit and he anticipates the online access willenhance the service and bring in more users.

CU mergers, he said, “remain complicated undertakings and evenmore so given the economy and events which impact ourindustry.”

“While the overall merger rate in 2010 is running slightlybehind 2009 in part because of the complexities, the need forup-to-date financial information remains vital,” said Peppers.“With the new online kit, all future updates will be madeautomatically,” he noted.