Academy Bank completes merger with one of KC's strongest banks

Academy Bank, a subsidiary of Kansas City-based Dickinson Financial Corp., has completed its acquisition of KCB Bank.

The computer systems of the two banks were consolidated this past weekend, and Academy Bank is currently in the process of switching KCB Bank branches to its brand.

The merger increases Academy Bank's presence in the Kansas City metro to 25 locations and gives the bank a much stronger presence north of the Missouri River. KCB has two locations in Kearney, one in Liberty and one in Gladstone as well as a branch in Bonner Springs.

"We had a small presence with in-store banks in Liberty and off Barry Road," Academy Bank CEO Paul Holewinski told the Kansas City Business Journal. "When we owned Bank Midwest we did very well in the Northland, so when we saw an opportunity to get back into the market in a significant way through a merger with KCB Bank, we just felt we had a great growth platform in a very fast growing segment of Kansas City. We saw a bank with a lot of experienced bankers who had been with that organization for a long time. We also believe there is room for growth in that market through new relationships and possibly additional locations."

Academy Bank came in third on the Kansas City Business Journal's ranking of the strongest large banks in 2018. With this merger, Academy Bank will now have $1.9 billion in assets, making it the seventh-largest bank in the bistate metropolitan area.

KCB Bank brings about $254.69 million in assets and was named the second strongest midsize bank at midyear in 2017. During the past few years, KCB has also been one of the area's most aggressive banks as far as its loan portfolio growth. Its loans increased by 21.7% in 2016, 23.5% in 2017 and 7.6% in 2018, and at the time of acquisition it held about $202.9 million in loans and leases on its books. However, that growth hasn't been done recklessly: KCB had no problem loans.

"We're combining two strong, family-owned organizations that each have a growth mindset, so it just checked a lot of boxes for us," Holewinski said.