Simmons First National Corp. has agreed to acquire Citizens National Bank of Athens, Tenn., the Pine Bluff bank said Wednesday.
Simmons will pay about $36.7 million in stock plus another $40.3 million in cash to buy Citizens National Bancorp, the holding company for Citizens National Bank.
Simmons shares closed at $45.79 on Wednesday, up $1.89 in light trading on the Nasdaq exchange. The announcement of the acquisition was made after markets closed Wednesday.
Citizens closed at $17.71 on Wednesday, up 35 cents in light trading on the Nasdaq.
George Makris, chairman and chief executive officer for Simmons, said it's important for Simmons to find banks with common goals, experience, culture and reputation.
"Throughout the bank's 108 years, the [Citizens] leadership has built a franchise focused on meeting the financial service needs of its customers," Makris said in a statement.
This is the second Tennessee bank for Simmons to buy.
Simmons announced in 2014 that it would buy Community First Bancshares in Union City, which is in northwest Tennessee. Union City is about 350 miles from Athens, which is in eastern Tennessee, about halfway between Chattanooga and Knoxville.
East Tennessee is a good growth area for Simmons, said Garland Binns, a banking attorney in Little Rock.
"Citizens is a good acquisition for them and a smart move," Binns said. "This allows [Simmons] to continue to expand their footprint."
Citizens has nine offices in east Tennessee and about $550 million in assets, $350 million in loans and $473 million in deposits.
In Simmons' conference call after its first-quarter earnings were released last month, Makris said Simmons was actively pursuing several potential merger partners.
"We really like the east Tennessee market," Makris said at the time. "We're committed to build out the east Tennessee market. Our first priority is to make some in-market acquisitions."
Citizens is the ninth acquisition by Simmons since 2010, when it acquired two failed banks from federal regulators.
Simmons has $7.6 billion in assets and offices in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee.
Both Citizens and Simmons have their roots in rural markets, Paul Willson, Citizens' chairman, said in a statement.
Simmons expects to get regulatory approval for the purchase by the end of the year.
Simmons' executives will conduct a conference call at 10 a.m. today. The call can be accessed by dialing (866) 298-7926, asking for the Simmons First National call and using the conference identification code 16338585.
Business on 05/19/2016