BancorpSouth Names New CEO

BancorpSouth (BXS) in Tupelo, Miss., will have a new chief executive for the first time in nearly 22 years.

The $13.2 billion-asset company announced Monday that James D. "Dan" Rollins 3rd will succeed Aubrey Patterson as CEO, effective Tuesday.

Rollins, 53, joins BancorpSouth from Prosperity Bancshares (PB) in Houston, where he served as president and chief operating officer for six-and-a-half years after holding a series of executive posts.

"BancorpSouth is a respected financial services company in our industry with a long and distinguished record of service to its shareholders, customers and local communities," Rollins said in a news release.

Rollins' hiring culminates a search that began in May, when BancorpSouth announced that Patterson, who has served as the company's chairman and CEO since 1991, planned to step down next year. Under Patterson's watch, BancorpSouth has grown from a $1.5 billion-asset community bank into a regional banking company with nearly 300 branches across eight states.

"My years of service to BancorpSouth have been my life's chosen work," Patterson added in a news release. "Moving ahead, I look forward to working with Dan Rollins in a successful and seamless transition."

Prosperity said Monday that six members of its executive committee - David Zalman, Prosperity's CEO; H.E. Timanus, Jr., the company's chairman and chief operating officer; David Holloway, chief financial officer; Chris Bagley, chief credit officer; Randy Hester, chief lending officer; and Charlotte Rasche, general counsel - will divide Rollins' responsibilities for the current time.

"We are excited for Dan in his new role and we wish him success in his new endeavor," Zalman said in a news release.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Community banking
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER