Simmons First National Corp. has received approval from the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors for its proposed acquisition of two financial institutions, the company reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday.
The banks in question are Community First Bancshares Inc. of Union City, Tenn., and Liberty Bancshare Inc. of Springfield, Mo.
In early May 2014, Simmons announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase Community First Bancshares Inc. and its wholly owned bank subsidiary First State Bank in a $243 million merger deal.
Three weeks later, Simmons announced plans to acquire Liberty Bancshares Inc. and its bank subsidiary Liberty Bank in a deal valued at about $207 million.
Simmons shareholders approved the mergers of both financial institutions in a Nov. 18 special shareholders meeting. The transactions are expected to close between the end of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Simmons First National Corp. Chairman and CEO George A. Makris Jr. said in a June 2014 interview that the acquisition of Community First Bancshares Inc. provides Simmons with an initial foothold in Tennessee and an entry into the world of consumer finance.
“They have a great franchise across the state of Tennessee and they had a couple of areas of expertise that we also did not have, one of them being consumer finance,” Makris said. “Now, technically speaking, consumer finance is sub-prime lending, but they have it down to an art.”
Liberty Bank is another strong source of small business lending expertise, Makris said in the June 2014 interview.
“They are a preferred lender,” Makris said. “This means that they can obligate the Small Business Administration as the guarantor of a loan without talking to them first. From the point of the consumer, this means that they can get a decision on a loan in a couple of days. That will really enhance our small-business lending.”
The mergers are expected to close on or about Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, immediately after the expiration of the mandatory 15-calendar-day waiting period from the date of approval by the Federal Reserve System.