Olney in Texas to Buy Park Cities in Bankruptcy Auction

Olney Bancshares of Texas in Olney has agreed to buy Park Cities Bank from North Texas Bancshares in Dallas.

Olney plans to merge the $422 million-asset Park Cities into its $2.1 billion-asset Interbank. Park Cities has four branches around Dallas, along with $229 million in loans and $396 million in deposits. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Interbank," John Dienes, Park Cities' chief executive, said in a Wednesday press release. "This merger will result in a banking institution that possesses a very strong balance sheet that will have abundant capital to serve our customers and communities."

The sale followed an auction process approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware. North Texas Bancshares and North Texas Bancshares of Delaware had filed for bankruptcy protection in October to remove obligations to its trust preferred investors. Park Cities is operating under a consent order from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. requiring it to increase capital and reduce troubled assets.

Park Cities Financial Group in Dallas, a group led by investor Darwin Deason, had originally agreed to buy the bank. It is not immediate clear why that group failed to walk away with the bank. The Dallas investors were the bank's stalking-horse bidder, meaning they were the first bidder and set the bar for competing bids. Stalking-horse bids also have some financial protections in an auction conducted through bankruptcy, compensating them for the risk of making the first bid.

Interbank, which operates 36 branches in Texas and Oklahoma, expected to complete the merger in the first quarter.

Commerce Street Capital was the seller's financial advisor, and Bracewell & Giuliani was the legal advisor. Olney's legal advisor is McAfee & Taft.