The exchange for the debt economy
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First Federal Bank has struck a deal to acquire the assets of Fidelity Bank’s mortgage division, NOLA Lending Group, expanding its retail footprint into Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Florida-based First Federal Bank, which had 145 mortgage loan officers registered with the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) as of Monday, said it plans to retain most employees of NOLA Lending Group.
“This acquisition underscores our commitment to the residential mortgage sector,” said John Medina, president and CEO of First Federal Bank.
Mortgage technology platform RETR shows that First Federal Bank originated $1.7 billion in mortgages over the past 12 months, while Modex data indicates that most of that production came from conventional and purchase loans.
First Federal will continue to service loans from Georgia, Wisconsin and Florida. The bank will also serve Fidelity customers in the Louisiana markets of Baton Rouge, Bossier City, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Mandeville, Metairie, Uptown New Orleans and New Orleans East, as well as Pensacola, Florida, and the Mississippi markets of McComb and Ridgeland.
Chris Ferris, president and CEO of Fidelity, explained the move by saying that the bank’s “strategic plan for 2026 includes a renewed focus on sound execution of banking, which will support shareholder value.”
Under the agreement, NOLA’s branding will be retained, but its platform will transition to First Federal within 60 days of closing. Doug Brendel, president of the residential division, said he expects the transition to be “simple” for employees and customers since NOLA and First Federal use “largely the same technology.”
First Federal is a customer-owned, community-based institution with 27 branches across the Southeast and operations in the Midwest. The bank has more than $4.1 billion in assets.
Fidelity is a smaller institution, with more than $1.2 billion in assets and 18 full-service branches across Southeast Louisiana, Baton Rouge and Lafayette. In October 2024, Fidelity became a wholly owned subsidiary of FB Bancorp.
Alston & Bird represented Fidelity Bank in the transaction, while Bradley Arant Boult Cummings served as legal counsel to First Federal Bank.
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The exchange for the debt economy