The bank for Great Southern Bancorp (GSBC) in Springfield, Mo., has agreed to sell its travel agency and insurance units so it can focus on its core business.
Adelman Travel in Milwaukee, Wis., would buy Great Southern Travel while HM in St. Louis would buy Great Southern Insurance. The deals are expected to close Nov. 30, the $4.1 billion-asset Great Southern said Friday.
"Great Southern Bank has experienced phenomenal growth during the last three years, growing from a primarily southwest Missouri-based bank with 39 banking centers to 107 banking centers in six states," Joseph W. Turner, Great Southern president and chief executive, said in a news release. "Banking is and always has been our core business. We have made the decision to strictly focus our resources on that core business."
Adelman Travel, which has more than $400 million in annual revenue, provides business and consumer travel arrangements. It employs 185 people and operates 20 full-service travel offices and four regional reservation centers.
HM, which was founded in 1991, is a privately held insurance broker. It provides property-casualty, employee benefit, personal lines and financial services.
Great Southern expects to record a $6.8 million gain from the sales in the fourth quarter.
For the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, the bank recorded $8.2 million in noninterest income, $7.2 million in noninterest expense and $739,000 in net income related to the two units. Great Southern posted in October a third-quarter profit of $7 million, up more than 56% from a year earlier.
