Simmons First announces $581 million Texas acquisition
by November 19, 2021 7:51 am 1,494 views
Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff, parent of Simmons Bank, announced Friday (Nov. 19) it has an agreement in place to acquire Spirit of Texas Bancshares in a deal worth $581 million.
According to a Simmons news release, Conroe-based Spirit of Texas Bank operates 37 locations primarily in the Texas Triangle — the fastest growing megaregion in the U.S. consisting of the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin metropolitan areas — with additional locations in the Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi and Tyler metropolitan areas, along with offices in North Central and South Texas.
As of Sept. 30, Spirit had total assets of $3.2 billion, total loans of $2.3 billion and total deposits of $2.7 billion.
Pending regulatory approval, Simmons expects to close the deal in the second quarter of 2022, pushing the holding company’s assets to $28.2 billion and 246 branches in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas..
“Spirit is a highly regarded, high performing bank with whom we share a common philosophy – providing outstanding customer service and developing deep and long-lasting relationships with the clients and communities that we serve and where we live,” George Makris, Jr., Simmons’ Chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “Strengthening our Texas franchise has been a strategic priority and to partner with Spirit not only enhances our current footprint, but also establishes a platform for growth in Houston, Austin, San Antonio and College Station. These markets have been among the fastest growing in the nation in terms of population and economic activity and projections call for this trend to continue. We believe this merger places us in an advantageous position to capture future growth in the Lone Star State.”
Simmons has been busy in 2021 on the acquisition front. The company acquired two Tennessee banks in a $278 million deal. That transaction was completed in October. Simmons Bank now ranks as the 8th largest bank in Tennessee, the 7th largest bank in the Memphis metropolitan area and the 14th largest bank in the Nashville metropolitan area.
On a pro forma basis, Simmons’ Spirit acquisition would rank the company as the 26th largest bank in Texas based on deposit market share ($22.3 billion).
More details are available at this link.