HispanicBusiness

El Paso's expanding Strategic Growth Bank's previously announced acquisition of First National Bank of Santa Fe has been completed.

The Santa Fe bank, which at 143 years old, bills itself as the oldest bank in the Southwest, has seven branches in Santa Fe, two in Albuquerque, one in Los Alamos, N.M., and one Colorado branch in Denver. It had assets of $798 million at the end of March, the latest financial data available.

Financial details of the bank sale, finalized Friday, were not provided by the El Paso company. Strategic Growth announced in December that it had made an acquisition agreement with the Santa Fe bank pending approval by the Federal Reserve Board.

Strategic Growth Bank is a 3-year-old banking company formed by well-known El Paso businessman Bill Sanders, who serves as the company's chairman.

"With an already strong financial standing, we are now poised to effectively compete with the largest national banks, while retaining our community roots and local sensitivity," Greg Ellena, co-CEO of First National Bank of Santa Fe, said in a written statement. Ellena was CEO and president of the Santa Fe bank before it was bought by Strategic Growth.

Kenneth McCormick, CEO of Strategic Growth's New Mexico and Colorado banks, is the other co-CEO of the Santa Fe bank. Michelle Coons, previously commercial banking manager in Albuquerque for the southwest division of California-based Bank of the West, is the Santa Fe bank's new president.

Besides the Santa Fe bank, Strategic Growth also includes Mile High Banks in Colorado and Bank of the Rio Grande in Las Cruces and Albuquerque, both acquired in 2012, and Capital Bank in El Paso, which was acquired in 2010.

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(c)2013 the El Paso Times (El Paso, Texas)

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