ST. LOUIS - First Banks Inc. has agreed to acquire Allegiant Bancorp Inc.'s Bank of Ste. Genevieve in a deal valued at about $17.9 million.
The transaction, announced Wednesday, in which $7 billion-asset First Banks would exchange its 974,150 shares of Allegiant stock for the $111 million-asset Bank of Ste. Genevieve, is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Both Allegiant and First Banks are based in St. Louis.
Bank of Ste. Genevieve is located in the Missouri city of Sainte Genevieve, about 65 miles south of St. Louis. Allegiant inherited the bank last year, when it bought Southside Bancshares Corp. of St. Louis.
Allegiant, with $2.2 billion of assets, also said that it expects the sale to add to earnings by reducing the number of outstanding shares.
For First Banks, the purchase would bring the company into the Sainte Genevieve market. "It complements where we are," said Allen H. Blake, the president of First Banks.
The company would not pay taxes on the Allegiant stock, and Allegiant would not pay taxes on the sale, Mr. Blake said.
