Mariner Kemper, chairman and CEO of UMB Financial Corp. UMB photo

A 111-year-old bank from Kansas City, Missouri, under its sixth family leader is now part of Fresno’s banking landscape with the official close of a $2 billion merger.

UMB Financial Corp. wrapped up its acquisition of Denver, Colorado-based Heartland Financial USA on Jan. 31, expanding its territory from eight to 13 states and growing its asset size to about $68 billion.

Part of that new portfolio is Fresno-based Premier Valley Bank, founded in 2001 with more than $1 billion in assets. Premier Valley Bank has seven banking centers in Central California. It was acquired for $95 million by Heartland Financial in 2015.

Mariner Kemper, UMB Financial Corp. chairman and CEO, is a fifth-generation banker and the sixth Kemper leader at UMB Financial. This stock deal represents the largest acquisition in the bank’s history dating back to 1913.

Kemper became CEO at age 31 in 2004, succeeding his father R. Crosby Kemper. His great-grandfather, W.T. Kemper, purchased the controlling stock in the bank in 1918.

“This is more than a milestone — this transaction will bring an expanded team, expertise, and enhanced products, services and investments to our customers and communities,” Mariner Kemper said in a blog post.

The merger brings UMB for the first time to California, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico and Wisconsin. Its existing footprint includes Missouri, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.

In an interview with BankBeat.biz, Mariner Kemper said the acquisition allows UMB to double its retail business and grow its wealth business by 30%. He specifically shouted out the Central Valley when talking about filling market gaps in places like New Mexico and California.

“We would not be interested in California if it meant San Francisco or L.A., but this opportunity is really the Central Valley, between Bakersfield and Sacramento,” Kemper told BankBeat.biz. “There are 10 million people there. It’s agrarian. Fifty percent of America’s food is grown in the Central Valley. And, there are lots of small towns in the region.”

Heartland Financial’s 13 institutions, which includes Premier Valley Bank, will operate as a division of UMB until the banking centers and systems conversations, which is expected in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Then they will operate as UMB, but banking operations will continue as normal until then, according to a news release.

Until the transition is complete, it will operate as Premier Valley Bank, a division of UMB Bank, n.a.