Regulatory delays sink bank-investor deal

Winnebago, Ill.-based Foresight Financial Group terminated an agreement to sell one of its six bank subsidiaries, State Bank of Herscher, to investor and entrepreneur Greg Kidd. .Kidd, CEO of venture capital firm Hard Yaka and a former senior analyst for payments at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, was unable to secure regulatory approval to buy the Illinois bank within the timeline outlined in the July 2022 purchase agreement.. "There appears to be little probability of any such regulatory approval forthcoming," said Peter Q. Morrison, president and CEO of the $1.5 billion Foresight Financial. "Our board has therefore determined that it is in the best financial interests of Foresight Financial Group to terminate the proposed transaction.".Kidd planned to add a business line to drive fintech innovation. At the time, then-Foresight President and CEO Rex Entsminger said the deal was part of the company's multi-year plan to increase revenue and shareholder returns. .The $175 million State Bank of Herscher has two branches in Herscher and Kankakee, Ill. Foresigh's five other subsidiaries — State Bank of Davis, Ill.; State Bank, Freeport, Ill.; Northwest Bank of Rockford, Ill.; Lena State Bank, Lena, Ill., and German State Bank, German Valley, Ill., — were not involved in the proposed deal.