Southern Bancorp Buying Mississippi Bank

Southern Bancorp, Inc. says it has signed an agreement to acquire the Bank of Bolivar County, which operates two branches in the Mississippi communities of Shelby and Mound Bayou. Southern currently operates a branch in Shelby, but Mound Bayou will be a new community for the Arkadelphia-based community development financial institution.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Southern was founded to serve distressed, rural communities like these and to help create economic opportunity for those living there,” said Southern Bancorp, Inc. CEO Darrin Williams. “This agreement to acquire the Bank of Bolivar County aligns perfectly with that mission as these communities lie in one of the most impoverished areas of our country, the Mississippi Delta. We are committed to ensuring that they benefit from the unique brand of financial products and development services we offer.”

The Mound Bayou community has a rich historical significance, having been founded following the Civil War as one of the nation’s first independent African-American communities.

“The Bank of Bolivar County was started by a group of businessmen and planters, including my grandfather, in 1940 with the purpose of serving the smaller communities in our county,” said Lee Burke, the bank’s current president and CEO. “I’m delighted to see that a mission-driven bank like Southern is going to step into these communities with products we were unable to offer given our small size, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to join Southern and serve my community.”

Southern has been making investments in rural communities through the Delta as part of its mission. With smaller community banks coming under stress, Williams said it is creating opportunities for his bank to step in.

“Across the country, we’re seeing a trend of small, rural community banks closing their doors due to increased regulatory costs and declining profit margins,” said Williams. “And larger banks are usually unwilling to purchase them as they are instead focused on more profitable, urban markets. Southern, however, is different. Our mission is to focus on rural, distressed markets, because we understand that without access to responsive and responsible financial capital – the lifeblood of economic development – more businesses will close, more jobs will be lost, and ultimately, these communities will disappear.”