DEVILS LAKE, N.D. -A Devils Lake credit union that was taken over by federal regulators will merge with another financial cooperative in Jamestown.

Citizens Community Credit Union announced this month it will take on the First Community Credit Union name after the two credit unions agreed to merge, according to a news release. FCCU President and CEO Steve Schmitz will lead both credit unions and the main office for the combined entities will be based in Jamestown, the release said.

"It is rare to find two credit unions whose culture, business approach and member origins align as well as First Community and Citizens," Schmitz said in a statement. "We look forward to working with the Citizens team to continue our shared history of exceeding the needs of our commercial and consumer members."

The National Credit Union Administration removed the leadership of CCCU when the federal agency placed the credit union into conservatorship earlier this year. There were few details on why the NCUA called for the conservatorship, other than to say the agency discovered the credit union, with more than 11,000 members, was using "unsafe and unsound practices."

An NCUA report for CCCU's first quarter showed a net loss of almost $1 million with $10.8 million of delinquent loans across 117 accounts as of March. That was almost 10 times the dollar amount at the end of 2015, when there were 91 delinquent loans worth $1.2 million.

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That number jumped to almost $12.3 million spread across 167 delinquent loans, according to an NCUA call report published Sept. 30.

CCCU also had $8 million in net losses for this year through September, compared with a net income of $125,650 during that timeframe last year. It had about $186 million in total assets and net worth of almost $12.9 million as of the Sept. 30 call report. That's down from a net worth of $20.6 million and total assets of $195.5 million as Sept. 30, 2016, according to NCUA.

"First Community Credit Union completed extensive due diligence, and while there were some loan issues, Citizens Community Credit Union was adequately funded to cover reserve requirements," Schmitz said in a statement. "We're excited about the opportunity to grow our Credit Union. Citizens has a strong history of operating for more than 77 years and when you combine that with First Community's experience, we're confident that we'll be stronger together."

The transaction should close Jan. 1 with the operational merger expected to take place later next year, according to the release. After that, FCCU will have about $800 million in assets.

CCCU will exit conservatorship status Jan. 1, NCUA spokesman John Fairbanks wrote in an email.

"Citizens Community Credit Union has a proud tradition of serving its local communities and the region as a member-owned credit union," interim CCCU CEO Jay Chapin said in the statement. "We could continue our respective community credit union traditions while capitalizing on the benefits that come with being a larger credit union."

Since CCCU still is under conservatorship, Fairbanks declined to comment on whether the NCUA was satisfied with CCCU's financial status or if the agency had a role in encouraging the CCCU to merge with another credit union.

Formed in 1940, CCCU has nine locations in North Dakota with the main office in Devils Lake -and one in East Grand Forks, Minn. Claiming to be the largest credit union in North Dakota, FCCU was founded in 1939, has 15 branches across North Dakota and serves more than 32,000 members, according to its website.

Member accounts will remain federally insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, the credit unions said in the release.