January 6, 2017-
Merchants Bancorp and its wholly owned subsidiary MBank has completed the sale of its’ banking assets to Riverview Community Bank. Riverview has acquired approximately $116 million in assets from Merchants Bancorp. The three MBank branch offices, in Gresham, Portland and Lake Grove, will become Riverview branches when the transaction closes.
Subsequent to the transaction closing, Merchants has agreed to merge with Sortis, a Portland based private lender and advisory firm. The newly combined firm will retain the publicly traded Merchants Bancorp holding company that will be renamed Sortis Holdings Inc. The new ticker symbol will be (SOHI) effective June XX. Sortis led the recapitalization of Merchants Bancorp in 2012, which saved the bank from potential failure and led to a quick turn around to profitability in 2013. MBank has continued to strengthen its financial position and was a highly rated bank at the time of sale.
Sortis Holdings intends to aggressively expand the existing private lending platform nationwide. It will also use its expertise in banking to opportunistically invest in the Fintech space. “We look forward to the opportunity to participate in the fast growing private lending space. The regulatory environment is very difficult on small banks and we felt there was a much greater opportunity to pursue outside of banking. The Sortis acquisition allows us to hit the ground running and use the proceeds from our sale as growth capital” said Jef Baker formerly CEO of Merchants who will continue as CEO of Sortis Holdings. Paul Brenneke Founder and CEO of Sortis will become Executive Chairman of the Sortis Holdings board.
About Sortis Holdings Inc. (FKA Merchants Bancorp)
Sortis is a leading private investment firm specializing in alternative asset classes with a focus on real estate, both as a lender and direct investor. With its roots as a former bank holding company, Sortis has evolved into a diversified firm that both lends and opportunistically invests in the Western U.S. with a focus on Pacific Northwest. Sortis manages the $100M Sortis Opportunity Zone Fund, $100M Sortis Income Fund and the $10M Sortis Growth Venture Fund. Operating under the principles of sustainability, client focus, integrity, hard work and creativity, Sortis provides its accredited investors with expertly managed alternate investment strategies. Further information is available at www.sortis.com.