Fourteen years after it completed its first bank acquisition, the $7.8 billion Landmark Credit Union in Brookfield, Wis., announced plans Tuesday to complete its acquisition of the $419 million American National Bank-Fox Cities in Appleton, Wis., in the second half of this year.
The deal's financial terms were not disclosed.
Landmark was one of the first in the credit union industry to buy a whole bank. In 2012 the credit union announced the proposed acquisition of the $155 million Hartford Savings Bank in Hartford, Wis. When the deal was finalized in February 2014, it added 8,800 new members for the credit union, which currently serves more than 405,000 members.
Founded in 1993, the bank serves the Fox Cities region of east-central Wisconsin, including Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, Kaukauna, Grand Chute and Fox Crossing, all located along the Fox River. According to its website, American National Bank-Fox Cities was established by entrepreneurs to serve other entrepreneurs to deliver banking services differently than traditional banks.
The bank's 36 employees operate a branch in Appleton and a loan production office in Green Bay, and manage a $328 million loan portfolio, including $76.3 million in commercial loans, according to its fourth quarter financial report filed with federal regulators. At the end of last year, American National Bank-Fox Cities recorded $350 million in deposits and $5.7 million in net income.
"After establishing a loan production office in 2025 in Appleton, we saw a strong opportunity to accelerate our growth by bringing American National Bank-Fox Cities into the Landmark family," Landmark President/CEO Timothy Mackay said. "Landmark American National Bank-Fox Cities is a business-focused institution that aligns exceptionally with our commercial strategy, while also offering a full-suite of consumer products and services."
Landmark posted a total loan portfolio of $6.1 billion, which included $1.9 billion in commercial loans, its December 2025 Call Report showed.
"We are pleased to find a partner in Landmark Credit Union that shares similar values for putting people first and building strong communities," Paul Northway, president/CEO of American National Bank-Fox Cities, said. "We are confident this will be a transformational partnership."
The industry's third credit union-bank acquisition deal publicly announced this year comes amid the launch of a national advocacy and marketing campaign by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) in Washington, D.C.
The latest credit union acquisition of a community bank demonstrated why the ICBA said it launched its new The Illusionists campaign, which the trade group claimed exposes how large credit unions are promoting a narrative of community service while aggressively expanding beyond their original mission and undermining local communities.
"Through this campaign, ICBA is pulling back the curtain to reveal how growth-obsessed credit unions are contributing to industry consolidation, reducing consumer choice and weakening the very local economies they claim to support," ICBA President/CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said.
The ICBA's campaign will appear on streaming, digital and print platforms.
The trade group is lobbying policymakers to end the federal tax exemption for credit unions with $1 billion or more in assets or to establish tax parity between credit unions and community banks.
The ICBA's campaign received sharp criticism from America's Credit Unions President/CEO Scott Simpson, who accused the ICBA of pushing haphazard and deceptive misinformation, along with misleading narratives about the cooperative finance model.
"If the goal is to spotlight deceptions, it may be worth starting with the illusion that credit unions operate like Wall Street banks. They do not," Simpson said. "More than 145 million Americans choose credit unions because they put people ahead of profits and reinvest earnings back into better rates, lower fees and financial education for their members. And they choose credit unions not because of illusions, but because of the miracles they make happen every day for their members. Whether that's helping a small business owner realize their dreams or a young family with their first home purchase, credit unions stand firmly by their members' side day-in-and-day-out."
He noted that credit unions and community banks both play important roles in the financial ecosystem.
"America's Credit Unions will continue advocating for policies that strengthen community-based financial institutions and consumers they serve," Simpson said.
America's Credit Unions, and state leagues and associations, have successfully defended the tax exemption or have fended off tax parity legislation – until recently. Although the ICBA argued states lose tax revenue from banks after they are acquired by credit unions, credit unions still pay other federal, state and local taxes on payroll, property and sales.
Nevertheless, it may get more challenging for credit union advocates to oppose tax parity legislation because some states are looking for new tax revenue to fix budget deficits.
In at least one state, Washington, state-chartered credit unions that buy banks are now required to pay a 1.2% business and occupation tax on gross income. Washington appeared to be the first state to enact a specific tax treatment tied to credit union bank purchases, but it did not apply to federally chartered credit unions, credit unions chartered in other states and Washington credit unions that submitted applications for regulatory review of a bank acquisition before Jan. 1.
Washington lawmakers approved the new tax last year as part of a legislative package aimed at a $16 billion shortfall in the state's operating budget. The budget solution includes $5 billion in program cuts and approximately $9 billion in new revenue over the next six years, according to Gordon Thomas Honeywell Government Relations firm in Tacoma.
In Oregon last year, lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 781, which aimed to impose the state's corporate excise tax and corporate activity tax on business loans and services acquired by a state-chartered credit union. However, that bill died in committee last June.
Peter Strozniak can be reached at peter.strozniak@arc-network.com.
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