Colonial Savings, F.A., a Fort Worth mortgage and banking institution with roots stretching back to 1952, has agreed to be acquired by Gateway First Bank, a state-chartered bank headquartered in Jenks, Oklahoma. The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, will bring Colonial's six greater Fort Worth locations under the Gateway name, and financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Gateway announced the agreement in a statement posted to its newsroom, describing Colonial as “a Texas-based financial institution serving customers through six locations across the greater Fort Worth market.” Gateway said the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and the bank framed the combination as a way to strengthen its presence in Texas and expand its ability to offer customers a fuller suite of financial services. As the Fort Worth Report notes, the acquisition also means Colonial Savings locations will be rebranded under the Gateway First Bank name.
The sale marks the end of an era for a company with deep family roots in North Texas. Colonial traces its origins to Fort Worth Mortgage Corp., founded in 1952 by James DuBose after he returned from World War II, providing residential home loans to communities across north central Texas. In 1972, Fort Worth Mortgage acquired a Lewisville, Texas company and took on the Colonial Savings name. James DuBose died in 2017, and his son, Jim DuBose, now serves as president and CEO of Colonial Savings.
Leaders Frame the Deal as a Values Match
Jim DuBose said both organizations share a belief that financial services should be built around relationships, trust and local decision-making, and that the partnership creates opportunities for customers, employees and communities while preserving Colonial's values, according to the Fort Worth Report. Gateway CEO Kyle Hubbard said Colonial has built an impressive legacy centered on exceptional service, strong community relationships and helping families and businesses achieve their financial goals, per the same report. Colonial's own website echoes that framing, stating that Gateway First Bank shares its commitment to local communities and a high-touch approach to customer service, according to gocolonial.com.
Colonial Savings is a federally chartered thrift, or savings and loan association — a category of lender that, by regulation, must keep 65% of its lending portfolio in housing-related assets and traditionally focuses on consumer services and mortgages rather than business lending. Thrifts have also historically offered higher interest rates on savings accounts than typical banks, per the Fort Worth Report. That mortgage-heavy model nearly proved fatal industry-wide: U.S. thrifts failed at a rate of roughly one-third during the 1980s, but Colonial survived by continuing to focus on mortgages and avoiding commercial lending, the Fort Worth Report reports.
A Shrinking Mortgage Business Behind the Sale
Colonial closed its mortgage origination business in 2023, shifting instead to full-service banking and mortgage servicing options and citing changing market conditions for the move, according to the Fort Worth Report. HousingWire reports that Colonial closed roughly $470 million in mortgages in the 12 months before announcing that exit from originations in May 2023. Through mid-2024, Colonial said it had a servicing portfolio valued at about $20 billion and assets of approximately $1 billion, according to HousingWire; the Fort Worth Report separately cites Colonial's current Fort Worth assets at $502 million.
Gateway, meanwhile, brings a considerably larger and more active mortgage operation to the deal. The bank reports more than $2 billion in assets, more than 60 locations nationally and about 600 employees, per HousingWire's reporting; the Fort Worth Report puts Gateway's assets specifically at $2.1 billion. Gateway originated about $1.4 billion in mortgages so far this year, following $2.5 billion in 2025, itself up from $2.2 billion in 2024, the outlet's report notes. Gateway described the acquisition as reflecting its continued commitment to strategic growth.
Part of a Broader Wave of North Texas Bank Deals
The Colonial deal lands amid what the Fort Worth Report describes as a spate of financial-sector mergers and acquisitions across North Texas over the past year. Fifth Third Bank acquired Dallas-based Comerica Bank in a deal valued at $10.9 billion in October 2025, according to the report, while Ohio's Huntington Bank acquired Veritex Bank around the same period. Huntington's own announcement characterized that transaction as deepening its commitment to Texas, according to a statement from Huntington Bank, while a Federal Reserve order on the deal noted that Huntington would become the 20th largest insured institution upon consummation, per the Federal Reserve.
Jenks, the Oklahoma community where Gateway is headquartered, is a suburb of Tulsa. Details on how Colonial's branches, employees and customer accounts will be handled after the sale closes have not been disclosed beyond the expected first-quarter 2027 closing timeline.
