Citizens Bancshares of Batesville Inc., the parent company of Citizens Bank, has raised $45 million through a debt offering, according to U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission records.
As of the October Form D filing, the bank had secured 39 investors and said that the minimum investment was $250,000.
CEO and Chairman Jeff Teague, who took over in June 2024, told Whispers the bank had $20 million in debt that was set to reprice last month. The bank was able to take that debt as well as $25 million in additional debt from other investors to get a lower rate and fund what Teague called “a strategic plan for growth.”
In the short term, that means making more loans but it could mean expanding the bank’s branches into some new places down the road, he said.
Citizens Bank has 16 locations, all of which are located in Arkansas, including four in Independence County. The bank has $1.48 billion in assets, $1.35 billion in deposits and ranks 16th in deposit market share in Arkansas.
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