Nicolet Bankshares to buy MidWestOne in $864 million stock deal

Nicolet Bankshares

23/10/2025 23:33

By Pritam Biswas

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Nicolet Bankshares NIC.N is acquiring MidWestOne Financial Group MOFG.O for $864 million in stock, in one of the bigger bank deals of the year.

Nicolet will issue 0.3175 of its shares for each common stock of MidWestOne, valuing the company at $41.37 per share, the companies said on Thursday.

The offer price represents a 46% premium to MidWestOne's last close. The bank's shares surged over 36% after the announcement, while those of Nicolet fell about 1% in trading after the bell.

The acquisition will create one of the largest banks in Upper Midwest with over $15.3 billion in assets, $13.1 billion in deposits and loans of $11.3 billion.

Dealmaking activity in the sector is expected to pick up pace in the second of half of 2025 as regulators become more open to consolidation.

Among recent such transactions, Pinnacle Financial Partners PNFP.O announced that it would acquire Synovus Financial SNV.N in an $8.6 billion deal in July.

However, the regional banking sector has been rattled by a series of bad news tied to loan losses.

Last week, Zions Bancorp ZION.O disclosed that it had booked a $50 million loss in the third quarter on two commercial and industrial loans from its California unit, while Western Alliance WAL.N filed lawsuits against Cantor Group related to soured loans.

Jefferies JEF.N disclosed its exposure to bankrupt auto parts maker First Brands in the same week, triggering a selloff in the sector. However, strong results from regional banks on the credit front have helped stocks pare losses.

"Outside of several one-off credit events, core credit trends have remained stable across the majority of banks that have reported 3Q25 results. So I feel this acquisition is part of a trend that has been in place for years and is accelerating here in 2025," Stephens analyst Terry McEvoy said.

 (Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

 ((Pritam.Biswas@thomsonreuters.com;))