Local State Bank Group merges with First Secure Bank Group for joint worth of $1.1 billion

Wonder Bancorp, the parent company of the local State Bank group, has merged with First Secure Bank Group, putting the combined assets of the three groups at $1.1 billion.

State Bank operates a number of local banks in Wonder Lake, Harvard, Hebron, Johnsburg, Spring Grove and Lakemoor, according to a news release on the merger sent out Thursday. It has a total of $260 million in assets.

While Wonder Bancorp was acquired by First Secure Bank Group, State Bank still will be operated as a separate bank from the rest of the entity and will retain its charter, according to the release.

“This is a great opportunity for State Bank,” Wonder Bancorp Chairman Jack Franks said in the release. “It allows State Bank to retain its identity, employees and small town culture while having the advantages of being part of a $1.1 billion banking organization.”

Franks, formerly chairman of the McHenry County Board, has a personal connection to the State Bank Group as his family, along with the Linidow family, have held majority ownership of the group since it was founded in 1979 in the building of an old pizza parlor in Wonder Lake.

First Secure Bank Group encompasses First Secure Community Bank, which boasts $475 million in assets, and First Secure Bank & Trust Company, which has more than $400 million in assets, according to the release.

“This is a win-win for both organizations,” First Secure Chairman Jay Bergman said in the release. “The First Secure banks are true community banks, not just in name but in reality. State Bank has the same philosophy of serving the people in the towns that they are located in.”

First Secure Community Bank is headquartered in Sugar Grove, with facilities in Aurora, Joliet, Morris and Naperville. First Secure Bank & Trust Company is based in Palos Hills with banks in Palos Park, Oak Forest and Mokena.

Customers of the banks will not be impacted by this move, Bergman said.

“This merger should be mostly invisible to the customers of both banks,” he said in the release. “A primary benefit of the merger is that the total group can now make loans of up to $10 million.”