Prosperity Ends M&A Break to Buy Tradition Bank in Houston

Prosperity Bancshares in Houston has ended a short, self-imposed break from acquisitions, agreeing to buy Tradition Bancshares in Houston.

The $22 billion-asset Prosperity said in a press release Thursday that it will pay about $77 million in cash and stock for the $522 million-asset parent of Tradition Bank. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Tradition has 11 branches, including seven around Houston. It also has $242 million in loans and $464 million in deposits. Charlie Norris, the bank's chief executive, will become a regional president for Prosperity; other key executives will stay to focus on lending efforts.

"We continue to look for opportunities to enhance our presence in the Houston area and Tradition Bank's locations in Bellaire, Katy and the Woodlands are an excellent fit for us," David Zalman, Prosperity's chairman and chief executive, said in the release.

Prosperity, which has bought eight banks since 2012, took a self-imposed hiatus to make sure it was comfortable with its integrations and that it wouldn't fall into the trap of doing too many deals. Its last deal was the purchase of the $2.4 billion-asset F&M Bank & Trust in April 2014.

The Houston lender began looking for a new deal three or four months ago, Zalman revealed during a conference call late last month to discuss second-quarter results. When an analyst on the call asked if there was anything, such as a divide over pricing or regulatory concerns, preventing Prosperity from announcing something, Zalman simply replied: "Stay tuned."

Sandler O'Neill and Thompson Knight advised Tradition. Bracewell & Giuliani advised Prosperity.