Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff, parent company of Simmons Bank, announced Thursday it has completed acquisitions of both Southwest Bancorp Inc. of Stillwater, Oklahoma, and First Texas BHC Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas.
Simmons now has more than $14 billion in assets, approximately $10.4 billion in loans, approximately $11.2 billion in deposits, and locations in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
The agreement to acquire Southwest Bancorp for $534 million was announced in December, and it is Simmons’ largest transaction.
The agreement to acquire First Texas in a $462 million cash-and-stock deal were announced in January.
Shareholders of the three companies approved the transactions earlier this month.
“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Simmons,” George Makris Jr., Simmons’ chairman and CEO, said in a news release. “With the closing of these transactions, Simmons has now expanded its reach into three new banking markets – Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado – and strengthened its franchise in Kansas."
Both Bank SNB and Southwest Bank will continue operations as separate bank subsidiaries of Simmons for an interim period until they are merged into Simmons Bank. Simmons plans on maintaining those brands in their respective markets.
Marty Casteel, president of Simmons Bank, said in the release that the bank would do everything it could to ensure a seamless transition and that customers should continue banking as they usually do.
