First National Bancorp Inc. of Green Forest (Carroll County) has reached an agreement to expand its north Arkansas footprint eastward by acquiring a $109 million-asset bank.
Terms of the deal for Twin Lakes Community Bank of Flippin (Marion County), announced Friday morning, weren't disclosed. Plans call for the bank to continue operating under the Twin Lakes name.
The purchase is expected to close by year's end, subject to regulatory approval.
First National is the parent company of $430 million-asset Anstaff Bank, formerly First National Bank of Green Forest. Twin Lakes is owned by First National Corp. of Wynne, which also owns First National Bank of Wynne.
Anstaff operates eight full-service branches in Carroll, Boone, Madison and Newton counties. It earned $5.2 million in 2014 and posted net income of $2.3 million in the first six months of 2015. Anstaff had $46.4 milion in equity capital as of June 30.
Twin Lakes operates three full-service branches in Baxter and Marion counties. It reported net income of $630,000 in 2014 and of $695,000 in the first half of 2015. Twin Lakes had $10.5 million in equity capital as of June 30.
"It was a perfect fit," said Steve Stafford, chairman and CEO of Anstaff. "We like the market they’re in. It’s a growing market."
Stafford said all Twin Lakes employees, including CEO Jerry Cunningham, will be retained. Stafford said he contacted Cunningham in the spring to talk about a possible acquisition. The deal was agreed upon on Wednesday, Stafford said.
Anstaff Bank was renamed in July 2014 in preparation for expansion because Stafford said small community banks had to either expand or be acquired because of the growing cost of regulations. Stafford said the bank chose a non-geographical name for that reason, and because the Anderson and Stafford families had run the bank since its founding in 1931.