Simmons First to Buy Delta Trust in Arkansas for $66M

By Paul Davis March 24, 2014, 4:51 p.m. EDT 1 Min Read

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Simmons First in Arkansas Reportedly Angling to Buy Delta Trust

Simmons First (SFNC) in Pine Bluff, Ark., is reportedly in talks to buy Delta Trust & Banking in Little Rock, Ark.

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Simmons First National Burdened by Bank Deals in 1Q

Expense related to failed bank deals weighed on Simmons First National (SFNC) in Pine Bluff, Ark., in the first quarter.

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Simmons First (SFNC) in Pine Bluff, Ark., has agreed to buy Delta Trust & Banking in Little Rock, Ark.

The $4.4 billion-asset company said Monday that it will pay about $66 million in cash and stock for Delta Trust. The $431 million-asset bank also has nine branches, $319 million in loans and $813 million in trust assets.

"We believe the acquisition will enhance our ability to offer a full range of financial services to our customers including wealth management, consumer and commercial financing needs, and asset protection," George Makris Jr., Simmons First's chairman and chief executive, said in a press release.

Simmons First expects to complete the acquisition in the third quarter with integration planned by the end of the year.

Speculation that Simmons First was talking to Delta Bank first surfaced last month. Meanwhile, French Hill, Delta Trust's founder and CEO, is a Republican candidate for Congress.

Simmons First has been a busy acquirer in recent years, paying $53.6 million for Metropolitan National Bank in Little Rock in a bankruptcy auction last fall. It also bought a pair of failed Missouri banks Truman Bank in St. Louis and Excel Bank in Sedalia from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in 2012.

Simmons First was advised by Sterne, Agee & Leach and Quattlebaum, Grooms, Tull & Burrow. Delta Trust was advised by Commerce Street Capital and Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard.

Paul Davis