The deal has closed, the merger is complete.

Publicly traded Old National Bancorp of Chicago and Evansville, Ind., announced on Thursday the closing of its previously announced $1.4 billion merger with St. Paul-based Bremer Financial Corp.

The privately held Bremer Financial Corp. is the bank-holding company for Bremer Bank, which was founded in 1943 by German immigrant Otto Bremer, whose philanthropic trust owned the financial institution.

The 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 advisers 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.

The deal followed multiple legal disputes between the Bremer trustees and the bank board over a potential hostile takeover of the board through the sale of voting shares. The trustees’ efforts, the first step toward positioning the bank for sale, were frozen during years of legal fighting.

The bank and the trust finally reached a legal settlement earlier this year, setting the stage for the merger.