FirstBank’s corporate headquarters in Lakewood. (Michael Reaves/The Denver Post)
FirstBank’s pending $4.1 billion sale will pay off handsomely for the daughters of the Lakewood-based institution’s first leader.
Mary and Nancy Reisher and a foundation founded by their father, former bank President Roger Reisher, collectively own 38% of FirstBank, according to Federal Reserve documents.
The privately owned bank’s pending acquisition by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based PNC Bank, announced Monday, means the Reishers and the Reisher Family Foundation are poised to get $1.5 billion in cash and PNC Bank stock.
They declined to comment through a FirstBank spokeswoman.
“They are a very private family, and don’t plan to do any interviews related to the sale,” spokeswoman Chandra Brin said in an email. “While they are large shareholders, they are one of more than 1,000 shareholder-owners.”
Mary, the bank’s former executive vice president, has a 9.9% stake in FirstBank, records show. Nancy has a 10.2% stake. The foundation owns 18%. PNC has agreed to pay $1.2 billion in cash and 13.9 million shares of PNC stock for FirstBank.
“I have no comment on any of our shareholders’ plans whether they take stock or cash, but I wouldn’t separate (the foundation) from Mary and Nancy,” FirstBank CEO Kevin Classen told BusinessDen.
“It’s been fabulous for Colorado kids,” he said of the charity, which Roger and his wife, Margaret, started in 2001. It awards scholarships to students at Colorado universities, including University of Colorado Denver and Colorado State University, through The Denver Foundation.
Roger grew up in a sod house in Nebraska, served in the Army during World War II and attended the University of Colorado Boulder. He co-founded First Westland National Bank, which became FirstBank, in 1963 and led the bank until 1999. He died in 2013, and his wife in 2019.
According to its 2023 tax return, the most recent publicly available, the Reisher Family Foundation donated $16 million toward scholarships that year and valued its approximately 17% stake in FirstBank at $390 million. The latter suggests the bank was considered to be worth $2.3 billion in 2023.
FirstBank was the Denver metro area’s fourth-largest bank by deposit market share in June 2024, while PNC was 14th. PNC says the deal will result in it assuming the No. 1 spot.
Classen said FirstBank’s 82 Colorado branches and 13 Arizona ones will be rebranded to PNC next year. PNC has 38 branches in Colorado and also operates in 27 other states and Washington, D.C.
Even before the deal, PNC had eyes on Colorado. In November, the bank said it would spend $500 million to build 100 new branches and renovate two existing ones across the U.S., with Denver being a key market.
The deal is expected to close in early 2026. Classen said FirstBank has 2,500 staffers, 2,400 of whom are in Colorado. He said “consumer-facing folks” in branches will keep their jobs, with details beyond that yet to be decided.
Classen, who will become PNC’s Colorado regional president and mountain territory executive, said the deal has been in the works for much of this year. Since January, he has served on the Federal Reserve’s Federal Advisory Council alongside PNC CEO Bill Demchak. The group of 12 meets in Washington, D.C., every quarter.
Classen said the two talked extensively about their visions for each of their banks during the past several months. FirstBank wasn’t necessarily looking to be acquired, he said, but PNC’s technology and offerings made a deal desirable.
“Over time, you look at our position in the banking industry in general, and it’s so tech-forward. So much is tied to innovation and things like that, and product scale is really something that has had our attention for a while,” he said.
Classen said he’s most excited for how the transaction will grow FirstBank’s business side. And he pointed to cryptocurrencies as something that customers will have access to after the acquisition.
“We have such deep relationships,” he continued, “but banking moves fast.”
FirstBank’s corporate headquarters in Lakewood. (Michael Reaves/The Denver Post)
FirstBank’s pending $4.1 billion sale will pay off handsomely for the daughters of the Lakewood-based institution’s first leader.
Mary and Nancy Reisher and a foundation founded by their father, former bank President Roger Reisher, collectively own 38% of FirstBank, according to Federal Reserve documents.
The privately owned bank’s pending acquisition by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based PNC Bank, announced Monday, means the Reishers and the Reisher Family Foundation are poised to get $1.5 billion in cash and PNC Bank stock.
They declined to comment through a FirstBank spokeswoman.
“They are a very private family, and don’t plan to do any interviews related to the sale,” spokeswoman Chandra Brin said in an email. “While they are large shareholders, they are one of more than 1,000 shareholder-owners.”
Mary, the bank’s former executive vice president, has a 9.9% stake in FirstBank, records show. Nancy has a 10.2% stake. The foundation owns 18%. PNC has agreed to pay $1.2 billion in cash and 13.9 million shares of PNC stock for FirstBank.
“I have no comment on any of our shareholders’ plans whether they take stock or cash, but I wouldn’t separate (the foundation) from Mary and Nancy,” FirstBank CEO Kevin Classen told BusinessDen.
“It’s been fabulous for Colorado kids,” he said of the charity, which Roger and his wife, Margaret, started in 2001. It awards scholarships to students at Colorado universities, including University of Colorado Denver and Colorado State University, through The Denver Foundation.
Roger grew up in a sod house in Nebraska, served in the Army during World War II and attended the University of Colorado Boulder. He co-founded First Westland National Bank, which became FirstBank, in 1963 and led the bank until 1999. He died in 2013, and his wife in 2019.
According to its 2023 tax return, the most recent publicly available, the Reisher Family Foundation donated $16 million toward scholarships that year and valued its approximately 17% stake in FirstBank at $390 million. The latter suggests the bank was considered to be worth $2.3 billion in 2023.
FirstBank was the Denver metro area’s fourth-largest bank by deposit market share in June 2024, while PNC was 14th. PNC says the deal will result in it assuming the No. 1 spot.
Classen said FirstBank’s 82 Colorado branches and 13 Arizona ones will be rebranded to PNC next year. PNC has 38 branches in Colorado and also operates in 27 other states and Washington, D.C.
Even before the deal, PNC had eyes on Colorado. In November, the bank said it would spend $500 million to build 100 new branches and renovate two existing ones across the U.S., with Denver being a key market.
The deal is expected to close in early 2026. Classen said FirstBank has 2,500 staffers, 2,400 of whom are in Colorado. He said “consumer-facing folks” in branches will keep their jobs, with details beyond that yet to be decided.
Classen, who will become PNC’s Colorado regional president and mountain territory executive, said the deal has been in the works for much of this year. Since January, he has served on the Federal Reserve’s Federal Advisory Council alongside PNC CEO Bill Demchak. The group of 12 meets in Washington, D.C., every quarter.
Classen said the two talked extensively about their visions for each of their banks during the past several months. FirstBank wasn’t necessarily looking to be acquired, he said, but PNC’s technology and offerings made a deal desirable.
“Over time, you look at our position in the banking industry in general, and it’s so tech-forward. So much is tied to innovation and things like that, and product scale is really something that has had our attention for a while,” he said.
Classen said he’s most excited for how the transaction will grow FirstBank’s business side. And he pointed to cryptocurrencies as something that customers will have access to after the acquisition.
“We have such deep relationships,” he continued, “but banking moves fast.”
