Sunflower Bank scraps planned merger with Colorado firm

A plan for a bank with Lawrence connections to merge with a Colorado-based financial services firm has been scrapped.

Salina-based Sunflower Financial announced Friday that it no longer was pursuing its previously announced merger with Colorado-based First Western Financial. Sunflower Bank operates a branch in Lawrence.

The two companies in September announced the merger plan, and touted Sunflower’s strength in traditional banking and First Western Financial’s strength in investment assets.

On Friday, Sunflower officials said in a release that the proposed merger had merit, but both companies decided that “terminating the merger was in the best interest of both companies and their respective shareholders at this time.”