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Simmons First to Buy Citizens National Bank of Athens In Deal Worth $77M

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Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff said Wednesday that it agreed to purchase Citizens National Bank of Athens, Tennessee, in a deal valued at $77 million.

The purchase price will consist of 835,741 shares of Simmons’ common stock and $40.3 million in cash, according to Simmons.

“As we continue to expand our community banking strategy, it is important that we find partners that have common goals, experience, culture and reputations as excellent corporate citizens. CNB certainly fits that mold,” George A. Makris, Jr., Simmons’ chairman and CEO, said in a news release.

“The leadership of CNB throughout its 108 years has built a franchise focused on meeting the financial service needs of its customers in the markets it serves,” he said. “We value that legacy and plan to continue to provide historical levels of quality customer service.”

As of March 31, CNB had assets of $552 million, deposits of $473 million and equity capital of $63.5 million. It earned $6.4 million in 2015, for a return on assets of 1.21 percent, and $4.7 million in 2014 (0.9 percent).

Simmons expects to complete the acquisition in the fourth quarter, subject to certain closing conditions, including approval by the shareholders of Citizens. After closing, Simmons aims for CNB to operate as a separate bank subsidiary for an interim period until it is merged into Simmons Bank.

Athens is between Chattanooga and Knoxville, and Citizen National’s nine branches are all in that corridor, which will expand Simmons’ footprint further east.

Simmons currently has 37 Tennessee branches, the result of the 2015 acquisition of First State Bank of Union City, but only one is in Knoxville.

Makris told shareholders at last month’s annual meeting that Simmons was continuing to look for acquisitions in contiguous states.

Simmons has total assets of $7.5 billion and operates in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee. Last month, it reported first-quarter net income of $23.5 million, up 170 percent from $8.7 million in the same quarter last year.

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