Overview
- The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation issued conditional approval for LevelField Financial to acquire Chicago-based Burling Bank.
- Finalization requires Federal Reserve approval for LevelField to become a bank holding company along with customary closing conditions, with executives signaling an imminent decision and a target close before year-end.
- LevelField disclosed a purchase price of about $70 million and plans to raise $112.5 million to fund the acquisition, post-close growth capital and retained capital at the parent company.
- Post-closing offerings are expected to include loans and credit cards collateralized by bitcoin, bitcoin rewards debit and credit cards, digital-asset custody and trading, and 24/7 real-time functionality available in all U.S. states and territories.
- Burling will be renamed LevelField Bank except for its cannabis banking business, Michael Busch will serve as bank president, current staff are expected to join the combined firm, the Chicago branch will remain open, hiring of about 100 roles is planned for 2026, and new offices are slated for Houston next summer and Miami in early 2027.