Bank Buy in the Works
by April 30, 2001 12:00 am 363 views
The parent company of Fayetteville’s Community Bank of North Arkansas is selling its interest in a Russellville bank.
Chambers Bancshares Inc. of Danville intends to sell its 58 percent stake in First Arkansas Valley Bank for $17 million. The bank has total assets of $275 million.
Investors in the bank holding company include the families of John Ed Chambers III, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former Razorbacks basketball star Jim Counce.
The would-be buyer is a group of investors, led by Jonesboro businessman Wallace Fowler, chairman and CEO of Bank of Jonesboro.
Fowler first scratched his bank buying itch in 1982 with a deal in Northwest Arkansas, acquiring Citizens Bank of Bentonville (later renamed First National Bank).
Others joining him in the First Arkansas Valley deal include Home Bancshares Inc. and North Little Rock Bancshares Inc., the respective holding companies of First State Bank in Conway and Twin City Bank in North Little Rock.
Chambers Bancshares acquired a 92 percent stake in First Arkansas Valley, then located in Dardanelle, for $5.32 million on Dec. 31, 1992.
Other shares in the bank will be retained by former executives at Fowler’s First Bank in Russellville, which was ultimately sold to Pine Bluff-based Simmons First National Corp.