LITTLE ROCK — Home BancShares, the holding company for Centennial Bank, purchased its third and fourth Florida banks on Friday, the Conway-based firm said.
The two banks are in the Florida panhandle.
Home BancShares bought Coastal Community Bank of Panama City and Bayside Savings Bank in Port St. Joe, which is about 25 miles southeast of Panama City.
Both were Federal Deposit Insurance Corp-assisted purchases.
The two banks, which are owned by the same holding company, have a total of $444 million in assets, $415 million in deposits, $330 million in loans and 13 locations.
Home BancShares now has more than 30 branches in Florida, including the Orlando and Key West areas, as well as about 50 branches in Arkansas.
Coastal Community Bank is a 104-year-old institution.
“Until recently, [Coastal] had a history of strong financial performance,” Randy Sims, Home BancShares’ chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement. “Our goal [is] to quickly return this franchise back into a high-performing community banking organization.”
The banks have a strong core of deposits, said Brian Davis, a spokesman for the Home BancShares.
“[Coastal] has the domi-nant market share in Panama City,” Davis said.
Randy Dennis, president of DD&F Consulting Group of Little Rock, a bank consulting company, said he was surprised by the purchases because Home BancShares’ other Florida branches are not near Panama City.
“This almost fits more with their Arkansas franchise than their South Florida franchise,” Dennis said.
Still, Dennis said, the purchases are probably a good move for Home BancShares.
“They are very conservative,” Dennis said.
The FDIC will cover losses on 80 percent of the two banks’ assets, and Home BancShares will be responsible for losses on only 20 percent of assets. With the arrangement, typical for FDIC-assisted purchases, Home BancShares will be profitable on the two purchases this quarter, Davis said.
Home BancShares sent 54 employees, primarily from Arkansas, to help with the conversion of the two banks, Davis said.
Business, Pages 25 on 07/31/2010