N.D. Bank Buying Minn. Mortgage Company

FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- A North Dakota-based bank is buying a 130-year-old Minnesota mortgage company.

Officials say Fargo-based State Bank & Trust's purchase of Minneapolis-based Bell Mortgage will combine the largest independently owned bank in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota with the tri-state area's largest private mortgage company.

Bell Mortgage has 180 employees at 28 offices in the Twin Cities; Phoenix; and Bozeman, Mont. State Bank & Trust has more than 500 employees at 14 sites and assets of more than $1.9 billion.

The purchase price wasn't disclosed. Bell Mortgage will become a division of State Bank & Trust.

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