George Makris
Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff announced Wednesday its third acquisition in Springfield, Missouri — but this time it’s a fee-only trust and investment company.
Publicly traded Simmons will pay approximately $20.7 million in cash and stock for Ozark Trust & Investment Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Trust Co. of the Ozarks.
Trust Co. of the Ozarks was founded in 1998 and provides investment management, trust services and custodial services. It had $1.1 billion in assets under management as of March 31, according to the Simmons announcement, and more than 1,300 accounts and clients.
Simmons acquired Liberty Bank of Springfield in February, adding about $1.1 billion in assets to Simmons First National Bank. Liberty’s CEO, Gary Metzger, then joined Simmons as regional chairman for Missouri and Kansas, and Wednesday’s announcement said Metzger is a former director of Ozark Trust and of Trust Co. of the Ozarks.
In buying Liberty, Simmons acquired 1,000 of Ozark Trust stock. Other banks that own Ozark Trust stock will be paid almost $702 per share in cash, while non-bank stockholders will receive 16.7205 shares of Simmons stock — about $736.50 at Wednesday’s closing price of $44.05. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.
Simmons also announced that Jay D. Burchfield, chairman of Ozark Trust and Trust Co. of the Ozarks, had been added to the bank holding company’s board of directors.
Simmons entered the Springfield market in 2010 with its first out-of-state acquisition, that of failed Southwest Community Bank.
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