Associated Banc-Corp announces balance sheet repositioning transactions

Associated Banc-Corp (ASB) announced balance sheet repositioning transactions to accelerate the company’s organic growth strategy. Pursuant to the terms of the transactions, Associated sold approximately $1.3B of investment securities and has agreed to sell approximately $0.7B in mortgage loans, primarily in single-product relationships. The sale of the mortgage loans is expected to close in Q12025. The transactions are expected to result in an after-tax loss of approximately $253M which will cause the company to report a net loss for Q4 2024. The transactions are expected to increase Associated’s wholesale funding capacity by paying down FHLB advances, while also removing low-yielding assets from the books. The company has also chosen to reinvest approximately $1.5B into investment securities. CEO Andy Harmening said, “This balance sheet repositioning supports and accelerates our organic strategy by enhancing our earnings profile, boosting capital, and providing additional capacity for loan growth. As we continue to execute on our plan going forward, we feel well-positioned to attract and deepen customer relationships, take market share in key commercial markets, and enhance the value of our franchise…”