Redemption completes historic acquisition of Salt Lake City’s Holladay Bank & Trust

In a groundbreaking milestone for both Utah and the nation, Redemption Holding Co. completed its acquisition of Holladay Bank and Trust, a family-owned institution in Salt Lake City. The June 9 transaction marks the first Black-led acquisition of a non-minority-owned bank in U.S. history, making the bank — which will be renamed Redemption Bank — the only Black-owned bank headquartered in the Mountain West.

The transaction is expected to establish the nation’s first Black-owned financial institution located outside an economically vulnerable community, the first of its kind in the Rockies and Mountain West, and the only Black-owned bank between Houston and Los Angeles.

In March 2023, less than a month after Redemption Holding Co. first announced it was purchasing a Utah community bank, Silicon Valley Bank failed. That led Redemption to do “a hard reset” with its acquisition of Holladay Bank & Trust, said Ashley Bell, the holding company’s CEO.

Bank valuations tumbled and “there was a lot of uncertainty at that time, from a regulatory posture, about what was going to be the new benchmark of scrutiny,” Bell told Caitlin Mullen, a senior reporter for banking news website Banking Drive.

Bell said Redemption moved to reprice the acquisition and it took more than two years for negotiations to reach the point that the deal could finally close last month. Bell did not disclose the financial details of the buyout but did say it was close to the cost of starting a bank from scratch.

“This milestone reflects the power of partnership, vision and a shared belief that access to capital can transform lives,” said Gov. Spencer Cox. “We’re grateful for the leaders who saw the potential and made it happen.”

Katharine Garff, board chair of Ken Garff Enterprises, an early investor in the new bank, told EIN Newswire she was eager for her family’s foundation to be part of the trailblazing venture as soon as she learned in 2022 that Dr. Bernice King — the youngest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — was involved. She will serve on Redemption’s advisory board and as senior vice president for corporate strategy and alliances.

“Dr. Bernice King is an absolutely captivating presence whose contributions to building a more equitable society have furthered her parents’ legacy,” said Garff. “I … know that her integrity and genuine compassion for the communities she uplifts reflect her commitment to community improvement and reinvestment.”

“I know deeply what it means for a nation to respond in times of crisis and how communities come together to realize that what’s needed, sometimes, has never been done,” King said. “Redemption will help deliver on my father’s dream of economic equality, and we are honored to be ushering in needed change at such a pivotal time.”

Lisa Eccles, president and chief operating officer of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, another investor, said Redemption’s model will uplift customers and expand opportunity in the spirit of the Eccles family legacy.

“For nearly two centuries, Utah has been a place of opportunity for those who sought it out — that is our family’s story, and now it will also be the Redemption Bank story. We are delighted to be a part of it,” Eccles said.

Other notable Utah investors include the Sorenson Impact Foundation; Patel Family Investments; Central Bancorporation; the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation; Ally Financial; the Huntsman Foundation; and Utah Jazz point guard Collin Sexton, who was backed by TribeAngels and Coinlete.

Bell praised Utah’s business and civic leaders for supporting the ambitious undertaking.

“Redemption Bank will create an unparalleled hub for Black investment in the Rockies, reinforcing our commitment to providing pathways to economic prosperity and the pursuit of the American Dream,” said Bell. “We are excited that the Utah business community has embraced Redemption’s vision of ensuring that financial access to capital and economic opportunity will expand, not contract.”

About 65 percent of voting shareholders in Redemption are African American small-business owners, said Bell, who’s also founder and CEO of Black-owned fintech Ready Life.

Holladay, founded in 1974, is a one-branch community bank serving the Salt Lake City area. The bank, which had about $65.7 million in assets as of March 31, has a clean balance sheet, has management willing to stay after the deal closed and is consistently profitable — an “extraordinarily rare starting point for a Black-owned bank in America,” Bell said.

Bruce Jensen, former CEO of Town & Country Bank in Utah and a longtime banker in the state, has been named Redemption’s CEO. Katie Spratling, daughter of Holladay Bank’s founder, will remain the bank’s president.