
Cross County Bancshares Inc. intends to increase its stake in Little Rock’s Central Bank. The parent company of Wynne’s Cross County Bank currently owns nearly 20.2% of the $212 million-asset lender and could up its position to as high as 35%.
“I don’t believe we’ll have an opportunity to get to that level,” said David Dowd, president and CEO of Cross County Bancshares. “We had a couple of shareholders who wanted to liquidate their shares, and we wanted to provide them with some liquidity.”
In round numbers, the deal for an additional 14.8% would entail an investment of about $2.9 million by Cross County Bancshares.
Central Bank recorded a profit of $1.4 million in 2018 and $440,00 through the first three months of this year.
The bank was founded in 2007 on the dormant charter of Bank of Blevins, which was folded into another Hempstead County lender: First National Bank of Hope.
Today’s Central Bank, which now includes a full-service branch in Bentonville, reflects the merger with the $74.8 million-asset Pinnacle Bank of Rogers. Pinnacle was folded into Central two years ago. The two banks shared a sizable block of common ownership.