The deal has closed, the merger is complete.

Old National Bancorp announced on Thursday the closing of its previously-announced merger with St. Paul-based Bremer Financial Corporation.

Bremer Financial Corporation is the bank holding company for Bremer Bank.

This merger means that Old National is the third-largest bank to the Twin Cities and among the top 25 banking companies headquartered in the United States.

Bremer, one of the nation’s largest farm lenders, maintains 70 branches in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

Old National will increase its previous five-year “Community Growth Plan” commitments of $9.5 billion to $11.1 billion, it announced in a news release.

“This adds approximately $1.6 billion in lending, investments and philanthropy commitments in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin,” the news release stated.

Also, the Otto Bremer Trust will maintain an 11% ownership stake in Old National, and Daniel Reardon, the co-CEO and trustee of Otto Bremer Trust, is joining the Old National board of directors.

As for Bremer Bank, it will operate as a division of Old National Bank “prior to the facilities and systems conversion,” which is anticipated to occur in mid-October, according to Old National.

The combined organization will operate under the Old National Bancorp and Old National Bank names, a news release stated.

For now, clients will continue to be served through their respective Old National or Bremer branches, websites, mobile apps, financial advisors and relationship managers until the systems conversion is complete. Clients can continue to use the full ATM network of both banks for cash withdrawals at no charge, according to Old National.

Jeanne Crain, chief executive officer of Bremer Bank, announced mid-April she would step down from the role on May 16, once the merger was complete.

Related Articles

Kohl’s ousts CEO Buchanan after investigation into some vendor transactions

Microsoft and Meta Platforms lead Wall Street higher

The number of Americans filing for jobless claims jumps last week, but remains at healthy levels

Visa wants to give artificial intelligence ‘agents’ your credit card

The home of Elon Musk’s SpaceX could become an official Texas city called Starbase

A woman in her 60s was found dead in a house fire Thursday morning.

Woodbury Public Safety responders were alerted at 5:30 a.m. to a fire on the 9000 block of Pinehurst Road, according to the department. The house was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived at the scene.

Homeowners told responders that one person was likely still inside the home. Woodbury firefighters worked to extinguish the flames while searching for the missing person and they found her deceased, according to Woodbury Public Safety.

An investigation into the cause of the fire and the cause of death is ongoing. Woodbury Public Safety said that at this time, there are no signs of foul play involved in the case.

Other responders that assisted on the scene included Lakeview EMS, and the fire departments of Lake Elmo, Cottage Grove, Oakdale, Newport, St. Paul Park and Maplewood.

Related Articles

Duluth man charged in high-speed crash that killed nun

St. Paul police plan to encrypt dispatches, as have Minneapolis, other agencies

Slow down and look up: Extra law enforcement on MN roads starting Thursday

Police suspect 2 shootings that left 4 dead in Minneapolis were connected and gang related

Remains of woman missing since 2016 are found in St. Cloud area

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, Associated Press Business Writers

Kohl’s has terminated CEO Ashley Buchanan, who just started the department store chain’s helm in January, after an investigation determined that he directed the retailer to engage in vendor transactions that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest.

Kohl’s named Chairman Michael Bender as interim CEO, effective immediately.

Kohl’s said Thursday that Buchanan’s firing is unrelated to its performance, financial reporting, results of operations and did not involve any of its other employees.

Kohl’s will conduct a search for a permanent CEO and said it will name a new chair in due course. The company couldn’t be immediately be reached for comments.

The news comes nearly four months after Buchanan, who had been the CEO of arts and crafts chain Michaels, took over the job in January.

Buchanan had succeeded Tom Kingsbury, who stayed on as an adviser and is retaining his position on Kohl’s board until his retirement next month. Kingsbury served as Kohl’s interim CEO in December 2022 and was named its permanent leader in February 2023.

The firing comes at a time when Kohl’s, which operates 1,600 stores across the country, is wrestling with sluggish sales. Its middle income shoppers have pulled back on discretionary spending in the face of still-high prices for necessities. Like other department stores, it’s also faced stiff competition from Walmart and Amazon, which have been improving their fashion offerings at affordable prices. And like other retailers, it is facing uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s expansive tariffs.

On Thursday, the company offered a preliminary look at sales and profits for the current quarter that showed continued weakness. It said that it expects to report a decline in comparable sales in the range of 4.3% to 4%, and a loss of 24 cents to 20 cents per share. It expects to report final first-quarter results on May 29.

Shares of the company, based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, rose 6.4% in morning trading.

Shaquille O’Neal made it well known in advance that he didn’t want to do what he was about to do during TNT’s halftime show Wednesday evening, but he had no choice.

He had to praise Rudy Gobert.

“Rudy Gobert,” O’Neal said, while making gagging noises with his mouth, “is dominating.”

Truth hurts, Shaq.

O’Neal is one of the four-time defensive player of the year’s many critics. But you get the sense that wouldn’t be the case if Gobert delivered more performances similar to the 27-point, 24-rebound spectacle he put forth in Minnesota’s series-clinching Game 5 victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles.

“We need that every single night,” Wolves wing Donte DiVincenzo said.

Not that 20-20s should be the expectation. But after a fairly quiet first four games of the playoffs — in which his impact was minimal and the center played roughly 25 minutes a game — Gobert was the premier presence felt on the floor on Wednesday. That’s the type of player Minnesota could use on a game-to-game basis in these playoffs, particularly when staring down a second-round matchup against either another small-ball team in Golden State or a Houston team that often deploys multi-center lineups.

“That’s the Rudy that can win you championships,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “When you have that type of mentality to go get every rebound, go get every block, defend every guy at the rim, we needed that. He came at the biggest moment of our season. We knew this game was going to be a dogfight. They were not going to lay down at all. He willed us tonight, especially when things weren’t going too well offensively.”

For years now, Gobert has been a safety net for Minnesota when things aren’t going well, particularly against cellar dwellers. His interior dominance creates a high floor. If opponents can’t score at the rim and have to battle for every rebound, Minnesota automatically becomes three times more difficult to beat.

But can he also lift Minnesota’s ceiling? He did on Wednesday. Los Angeles doubled down on a defensive scheme that largely left Gobert unattended in an effort to account for Anthony Edwards.

There have been times in the past when Minnesota would not have made an opponent pay for such an approach. But the Wolves found Gobert early and often in Game 5. And whenever the big man didn’t get the ball, he often grabbed it off the glass.

Gobert gobbled up nine offensive rebounds in the win. In the process, he silenced many of his often loud critics — at least for one evening.

“Rudy is a winner at the highest level. He drives winning. You can not like who he is, how he does it, what he looks like, etcetera,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “When you have this guy on your team, you understand what a professional and a winner is.

“He’s just such a competitor, as well. He doesn’t listen to the outside noise, we don’t listen to the outside noise. No one is happier for Rudy than his teammates right now, particularly Anthony, who let everybody out there on the floor know that it was Rudy’s night and nobody was around to stop him.”

For his role the past couple of years in ending the seasons of Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic and now Luka Doncic and LeBron James, Anthony Edwards has been dubbed “The Kingslayer.”

What does that make his center?

“He was a dragon,” Edwards said. “He was the dragon from ‘Game of Thrones’ tonight.”

Fierce, fiery, dominant.

If you’ve ever seen “Game of Thrones,” you know the dragon is the ultimate weapon of war.  Had Jaime Lannister been armed with the fire-breathing creature, world domination would have been the likely outcome.

On Wednesday, the dragon was a vindictive beast retaliating against those who’ve wronged him in the past, whether it be critics, Lakers guard Luka Doncic or any others who have dared to doubt him.

“But my vindication is not about beating a specific person,” Gobert said. “It’s about winning a championship. We’ve got a little more work to do for that.”

Related Articles

When and where does the Timberwolves’ second-round playoff series start?

Five reasons the Timberwolves beat the Lakers in five games

Narrative-busting Timberwolves knock out Lakers, advance to West semifinals

Frederick: Anthony Edwards is NBA’s next must-see star, whether he likes it or not

Is this lineup the Timberwolves’ clutch-time solution?