A giant leap: UMB Financial’s $2B merger sets sights on Central Valley’s ag future

Image Contributed | Fresno’s Premier Valley Bank was founded in 2001 and has more than $1 billion in assets. It will be known for the time being as Premier Valley Bank, a division of UMB Bank, n.a.

UMB Financial Corp., a 111-year-old banking institution from Kansas City, Missouri, became a crucial part of the Fresno banking landscape with a recent $2 billion merger.

The company completed 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. Heartland Financial includes 13 bank businesses across the country, including Fresno-based Premier Valley Bank, which was founded in 2001 and has more than $1 billion in assets.

Mariner Kemper, the chairman and CEO of UMB Financial Corp., is a fifth-generation banker and the sixth Kemper to lead UMB Financial.

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,” Kemper shared in a blog post.

In a virtual interview with The Business Journal, Kemper said this acquisition was the largest in the company’s storied history, sharing his excitement to be serving and competing for Central Valley farming clients.

Kemper emphasized the importance of working with those who plan ahead and understand the business cycle.

“We like to do business with farmers, ranchers and agricultural-related business owners and leaders that understand that and prepare their businesses for it,” Kemper said.

Kemper said UMB Financial is already the 20th largest agricultural lender in the country and is eager to expand its impact in the Central Valley. He enjoyed spending time here during the due diligence period for the acquisition.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh, California, no, I’m really not interested in going to the big cities and trying to deal with what Los Angeles and San Francisco mean, the complexity, the political environments and all that. I wasn’t super excited about it.” Kemper said. “But as I took my first trips and spent time in the Central Valley, what I realized was it was like the Midwest, and I got super excited about it, and I learned a lot in the process.”

Heartland Financial’s 13 institutions 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.

The merger brings UMB Financial to over 5,000 employees and nearly 200 branches across the country.

Kemper attributes UMB Financial’s success to a low turnover rate and relationship building.

He talked about having to find a fine line between hiring new and fresh minds and keeping long-term stability.

“The average tenure at UMB is nine years. The average person in America’s average tenure of employment somewhere is four years,” he said. “You need a little of both. You don’t want to be retraining your banker all the time.”

Kemper prides himself as a people person and said the banking industry is primarily a “people business.”

“I absolutely love people,” Kemper said. “I could do anything I could and have just as much fun doing it, as long as there’s a person on the other side, but it’s a people business, it’s an on-the-job MBA for the rest of your life.”

With the biggest acquisition in the company’s history behind them, Kemper said he wants to focus on a smooth transition and integration before looking at future deals.

“We’re an entrepreneurial organization,” he said. “We want to be ready for what comes our way, but our immediate priority is executing this acquisition successfully.”

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