Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff announced Monday a $462 million cash-and-stock deal to acquire First Texas BHC Inc. of Fort Worth and its $2 billion-asset subsidiary Southwest Bank.
It's the third acquisition announced by Simmons in the past 10 weeks. Its $78 million deal to buy First South Bank of Jackson, Tennessee, is expected to close in the current quarter, while the $564.4 million purchase of Bank SNB of Stillwater, Oklahoma, should close in the third quarter, pushing Simmons' assets past the $10 billion mark.
Bank SNB has five branches in Texas, and Simmons CEO George Makris Jr. said the Southwest purchase will build on that.
“Late last year, Simmons announced its introduction into the Texas markets with our proposed acquisition of Bank SNB. We now have the opportunity to substantially grow our presence in the Fort Worth metropolitan area by joining with one of the best run, most respected financial organizations in Texas," Makris said in a release announcing the deal.
Southwest Chairman and CEO Vernon Bryant and his executive team "are exemplary bankers who understand the industry and get the importance of excellent customer service," Makris continued. "Their success, both for their customers and for their organization, makes me confident that we have teamed with another great banking partner. The Southwest Bank brand itself is very well known and respected, and represents a legacy of quality banking service. Because of that legacy, we will retain the Southwest Bank brand.”
First Texas' shareholders will receive 6.5 million shares of Simmons' publicly traded stock and $70 million in cash in a deal that is expected to close in the third quarter. Southwest Bank, which has been privately owned, will then be operated as a separate bank subsidiary during what the announcments described as "an interim period" befor ebeing merged into the Simmons Bank charter.
Stephens Inc. of Little Rock was financial adviser to First Texas. Mercer Capital Management Inc. of Memphis advised Simmons.
Southwest recorded a profit of nearly $14.4 million for the nine months ending Sept. 30. After losing a combined $4.1 million during 2008-09, the company has stayed the course of profitability.
The bank reported annual profits of $16.8 million in 2015, $12.7 million in 2014 and $9.5 million in 2013.
Supported by a staff of 302, Southwest operates 16 full-service branches primarily in Fort Worth. Based on deposits, the bank held the sixth largest market share in the Tarrant County at 3.43 percent. Southwest Bank was chartered as T Bank in 1963.