Nicolet Bank to double its locations with MidWestOne acquisition

GREEN BAY – Green Bay-based Nicolet Bankshares Inc. is expanding to Minneapolis-St. Paul and several cities in Iowa by acquiring MidWestOne Financial Group, an Iowa City-based bank with a presence in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, the company said.

Mike Daniels, Nicolet Bankshares’ cofounder, chairman, president and chief executive officer, called the deal “transformational” in an Oct. 23 announcement of the merger agreement just a week before the bank’s 25th anniversary Nov. 1.

“It will double our footprint and bring us to Iowa, to Iowa City, Dubuque and Muscatine,” he said. “We will have a ‘lead local’ position in several markets across the new footprint. We are very optimistic about our future,” Daniels said.

The transaction, approved unanimously by both companies’ boards of directors is an all-stock deal valued at about $864 million, with an offer of $41.37 per share of MidWestOne Financial Group, which trades under the symbol MOFG on the Nasdaq exchange. MidWestOne shareholders are expected to receive 0.3175 shares of Nicolet Bankshares stock for every MidWestOne share they own when the deal closes in 2026, the companies said.

The publicly traded Nicolet Bankshares Inc., which trades under the symbol NIC on the New York Stock Exchange, is gaining assets and diversifying its loan mix with more general business loans through the acquisition, expected to close in 2026.

It’s also expected to achieve cost savings of about 25%.

But its culture of providing personalized service and community involvement is expected to stay the same, Daniels said.

MidWestOne’s community banking values are similar to Nicolet Bank’s, Daniels said in a conference call, noting the two companies share a vision of sustainable growth through personal service.

“We’re still a founder-driven organization,” he said, adding that 90% of his family’s worth and wealth is invested in the bank. “So everything we do is through the lens of the shareholder.”

In a third-quarter report released Oct. 23, Daniels said Nicolet Bankshares has thrived by going against the grain in the banking industry.

Nicolet Bank has held fast to its focus on customer relationships.

“In a way, Nicolet is a 25-year case study that shows that working hard to create shared success between customers, communities and employees creates positive if not superior shareholder results. That philosophy ran counter to the industry 25 years ago and still does to a degree today. We didn’t set out to be contrarian. We set out to be ourselves,” he said.

The company reported net income of $42 million for third quarter 2025, up from $33 million in the year-ago quarter.

In a conference call about the acquisition agreement, Daniels elaborated on the bank’s philosophy.

“We look at it with the same lens of business success in that business is personal; it’s personal to our customers. We know that, so it’s personal to us,” he said.

“We’re going to do things the Nicolet way and try to get this thing rockin’ and rollin’ to the extent we can. We also understand we’re not in control of everything. The goal is to get it closed,” he said.

If all goes according to plan, the acquisition would give Nicolet Bankshares $15.3 billion in assets, establishing it as a premier Upper Midwest bank with 110 branches and new expansion possibilities, the companies said.

Nicolet Bankshares, which has seven Nicolet Bank branches in the Green Bay area and several dozen in nearby counties, employs about 450 people, Daniels said.

It currently has assets of about $9 billion and about 52 branches in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and one in Naples, Florida, according to its financial reports.

MidWestOne Financial Group’s stock rose on the announcement, climbing from an opening price of $28.40 per share Oct. 23 to $40 per share, according to Yahoo Finance.

Nicolet Bankshares’ stock opened at $130 per share Oct. 23 and closed at $128, Yahoo Finance said.As of Oct. 28, its shares were trading at $121.80.

The deal values MidWestOne Financial Group at 11.5 times estimated 2026 earnings per share and gives MidWestOne shareholders 30% of the outstanding shares of the combined company, according to a news announcement.

The publicly traded Nicolet Bankshares Inc. will expand its board to 12 members with the addition of four MidWestOne directors, including MidWestOne CEO Chip Reeves and Chief Financial Officer Barry Ray.

MidWestOne’s 56 bank locations will take the Nicolet Bank name, Daniels said.
MidWestOne CEO Chip Reeves said, “We are extremely excited to be joining Nicolet Bank. Our organizations share similar mindsets and values. We abhor mediocrity. We can’t wait to build a combined Nicolet Bank into the best midsize bank in the Upper Midwest.”

For Green Bay-area customers, the acquisition might not be noticeable unless they’re traveling to Iowa or the Twin Cities, but the deal is expected to make the community-focused company better, Daniels said.

“Our goal with every acquisition is not just to become bigger, but to become a better bank. We have worked hard to put actions to those words,” Daniels said.
Another word Daniels uses often is “matter.”

“We have largely avoided larger markets. However, we have always stated we want to be in markets where we can matter,” he said. “With over $1.2 billion in loans and deposits and 15 branches, we have a perfect opportunity to matter in the Twin Cities.”

In the future, Denver could present new growth opportunities, he said, though he added that he hasn’t fully explored the market.

Nicolet Bankshares stepped up a growth-through-acquisition strategy about a decade ago, acquiring Baylake Corp. in 2016, First Menasha Bancshares in 2017, Choice Bancorp in 2019, Advantage Community Bancshares in 2020, Mackinac Financial and County Bancorp in 2021 and Charter Bankshares in 2022, according to an investor presentation.

With the acquisitions, it has more than doubled in size, but Daniels said the bank isn’t pursuing growth for growth’s sake.

“Nicolet Bank will only acquire a bank if it can make Nicolet, the new bank and the communities/customers better. We have no desire to get bigger for the sake of being bigger. We want to be better,” Daniels said in an email.

When asked how the acquisition will affect current Nicolet Bank customers in Green Bay, Daniels said, “Our customers, particularly in the greater Green Bay area, probably won’t see too much that is different.”

With no geographic overlap, the bank will be growing its number of branches in other markets. He spoke of the importance of retaining employees, who represent an important part of the bank’s success.

The combined bank is expected to gain enhancements and efficiencies that benefit customers. “Our customers locally will be included if, for example, we make an investment in newer technology, or an enhanced product or service as a result of this merger,” Daniels said. “I can also say that our customers will see no change at all in Nicolet’s purpose to serve our customers and how we continue to take care of our customers and communities,” Daniels said.

Customers will have access to “enhanced digital tools, specialized lending options and more robust financial planning resources,” MidWestOne noted on its website as it announced the deal. It also said the combined bank will be better able to “invest in innovation, provide greater lending capacity and support local businesses.”

The combined bank will service a broader cross-section of businesses, while Nicolet Bank has found its strength in agriculture businesses in the past, including loans backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Small Business Administration.

Both banks have strong mortgage departments.

Integrating the two operations will take focus and commitment, “but we will get after it,” Daniels said in the conference call.

“Our track record speaks well for what we’ve been able to do. Our expectation at the end of the day is this combined entity will be a top quartile, if not top decile, entity delivering exceptional shareholder returns,” he said.