GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The Nicolet National Bank chain of Green Bay is about to become a lot bigger.

Plans were announced for Nicolet to acquire the Mid-Wisconsin Bank chain of Medford for just over $10-million.

The deal still needs approval from stockholders and government regulators.

For now, it’s scheduled to be finalized in the second quarter of next year.

Nicolet CEO Bob Atwell says the merger is an important step in his bank’s growth – and it will help achieve Nicolet’s goal of being large enough to flourish in all types of economic environments.

Mid-Wisconsin Bank is based in Medford. It lost $4.6 million last year, while Nicolet made one-and-a-half million.

Mid-Wisconsin Bank has been dealing with bad loans from the recession.

Chairman Kim Gowey said the sale to Nicolet would let Mid-Wisconsin stockholders quote, “participate in ownership of a strong bank with increased scale.”

The transaction includes Nicolet stock which would put Mid-Wisconsin’s stock value at just over six-dollars a share.  It closed Wednesday at almost four-dollars a share.

The merged company would have assets of just over a billion-dollars with 22 branches in central and northeast Wisconsin.

Nicolet would become one of the state’s 10 largest banks in the process.