Northrim to buy Oregon bank, its first branches outside Alaska

Northrim Bank, one of Alaska's own, is expanding outside the state for the first time in its history. Its parent company has agreed to buy an Oregon bank for about $167 million, a deal that would put the Northrim name on branches in a second state and turn a homegrown Alaska institution into a Pacific Northwest one.

The target is People's Bank of Commerce, based in Medford, Oregon. Eleven of its branches, including those in Medford, Ashland and Eugene, would take the Northrim name while keeping their existing staff. Northrim today runs 21 branches, all of them in Alaska.

The move would roughly double Northrim's size. The combined bank would hold about $4.2 billion in assets, which would still leave it second in Alaska, behind First National Bank Alaska. It is being paid for in stock rather than cash, so the exact value shifts with Northrim's share price, but it works out to around $167 million.

Both banks' leaders framed the deal as one that would not change the feel of the Oregon branches. People's Bank president and chief executive Julia Beattie said it would preserve "the personal relationships and local decision-making that define People's Bank," and Northrim's chairman and chief executive, Mike Huston, said much the same.

The deal is not final. It needs approval from bank regulators and separate votes from the shareholders of both companies. Northrim expects to close it late this year or in early 2027, with the two banks' computer systems merged the following year.