Background on Bremer Financial Corporation and Otto Bremer Trust disputes

Bremer Bank has roots in the places where we live and work that go back to 1943, and a long history of stepping up for our customers and communities. The bank’s story begins with our founder, Otto Bremer, whose life’s work was his community banks. Otto established the bank and his charitable foundation – the Otto Bremer Trust – to ensure that his network of hometown banks would endure forever and have a perpetually positive impact on local communities. And for 80 years, Bremer Bank has successfully carried out Otto’s legacy, serving community needs and providing expansive services across the Upper Midwest. We are one of the nation’s largest ag lenders, we have significant partnerships with community organizations, and we have a presence in many rural and underserved communities.

In October 2019, the three trustees of the Otto Bremer Trust began a process to stage a hostile takeover of the Bremer Bank Board by attempting to sell some of their non-voting shares in Bremer Financial Corporation (BFC) to 19 out-of-state hedge funds. The plan was for these hedge funds to purchase these shares and convert them to voting shares, thereby depriving Bremer’s employee-shareholders of the majority voting power they have held continuously since 1989. The trustees’ ultimate goal was to force an outright sale of the bank, ending Otto Bremer’s legacy. Left unchallenged, this effort would have substantially enriched those trustees while costing the region jobs and valuable community-focused bank resources.

The trustees’ attempted stock sales violate Otto Bremer’s Trust Instrument as well as Minnesota law, and BFC does not recognize the sales as valid. BFC filed litigation to prevent the trustees from carrying out their unlawful hostile takeover.

BFC’s lawsuit was stayed for several years in favor of a separate proceeding initiated by the Minnesota Attorney General. That proceeding resulted in the court-ordered removal of one of the trustees.

Now, more than four years after the attempted share sales, BFC’s litigation against the trustees is moving forward.

This site provides clarity and context on this issue and up-to-date information for all of those who have an interest in the future of Bremer Bank as the vital, community-oriented financial institution it was designed to be and intends to remain.