Pine Bluff, Ark.-based Simmons First National Corp. (Nasdaq: SFNC) announced today it penned a definitive agreement to purchase Springfield-based Ozark Trust and Investment Corp., the parent company of Trust Company of the Ozarks.
Under the terms of the deal expected to close in the third quarter, Simmons would pay roughly $20.7 million in cash and stock for the firm that ranked No. 3 on Springfield Business Journal’s 2014 list of the area’s largest trust companies based on $1 billion in assets administered in 2013.
“Wealth management is an important growth business for us, and we are excited about this strategic opportunity,” Simmons Chairman and CEO George Makris Jr. said in a news release. “This acquisition increases our total assets under management by more than $1 billion, enhances our existing wealth management product offering, provides us with a talented and creative team of wealth management professionals who have built and grown a successful business and expands our presence in the important southwest Missouri market.”
As of March 31, Trust Company of the Ozarks held $1.1 billion in assets under management, 1,346 accounts and 1,314 clients, according to the release.
Terms of the deal stipulate each oustanding share of common stock in the company held by banks or bank holding companies would be converted into the right to receive $701.93 in cash. Common stock held by any other type of shareholder would be converted into 16.7 shares of Simmons’ common stock.
The move - subject to review by the Missouri Division of Finance and other regulatory bodies - marks Simmons’ first acquisition of a fee-only financial firm. Trust Company of the Ozarks would merge into Simmons upon completion of the deal, according to the release.
In the first quarter, Simmons finalized its purchase of Springfield-based Liberty Bancshares Inc., which gave the Arkansas company 1,000 shares of Trust Company of the Ozarks’ common stock.
Former Liberty Bank branches opened under the Simmons First National Bank name April 27, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
For the first three months of the year, Simmons doubled quarterly net income available to common shareholders to $8.7 million.
SFNC shares were trading at $44.05 as of 4:37 p.m., compared to a 52-week range of $35.53 to $46.38.[[In-content Ad]]
