Southern Bancorp Inc. has completed its acquisition of FCB Financial Services of Marion, a $213 million asset bank that also operates branches in West Memphis and Jonesboro as Premier Bank of Arkansas.
The acquisition is part of Southern's plans to expand across Arkansas and the Mid-South region, a strategy that will be fueled by an upcoming $237.5 million investment by the U.S. Treasury Department.
All three Premier locations will continue operating under the Premier Bank brand until early 2023 when a full conversion will take place.
Southern Chief Executive Officer Darrin Williams said Wednesday the acquisition aligns with the bank's efforts to help underserved communities build wealth and increase their access to banking services.
"Not only are Premier Bank's markets closely aligned with us geographically, with many existing Southern branches located nearby, but they are also mission-aligned, with numerous opportunities in each community to introduce our unique brand of development banking to new and existing customers," Williams said in a statement.
Donny Underwood, chief executive officer of Premier Bank, will continue in his role until the 2023 conversion, after which he will take a leadership role with Southern.
Southern Bancorp, which operates as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), offers traditional banking products and financial development services such as credit and housing counseling and financial education to rural residents in Arkansas and Mississippi.
Southern is nearing completion of the Treasury Department investment, which is part of $8.7 billion being invested through the federal Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP) approved to spur development in rural communities suffering economically in the pandemic.
"This is a game changer for us as it will allow us to greatly expand our services and our impact," Southern spokesman Nathan Pittman said Wednesday. "Several other CDFIs in Arkansas and the U.S. also received investments, but ours is among the largest in the country."
The investment will fuel internal growth at Southern. The bank plans to open its first Little Rock branch in the 12th Street Substation, which straddles the corners of Cedar and Pine streets. The bank will provide banking services and other support such as credit counseling at the location. In addition, Southern is considering expansion in other metro areas such as Memphis while exploring other opportunities throughout the Mid-South, according to Pittman.
"It's an exciting period in Southern's history, and the benefit for financially underserved Arkansans is going to be huge," he said.