Commerce to merge with Oklahoma holding company

Commerce Bancshares, the holding company for Commerce Bank, announced Monday it has entered an agreement to merge with South Tulsa Financial Corp. by second-quarter 2007, pending regulatory approval and South Tulsa shareholder approval.

South Tulsa is the parent company of Bank South; an application will be filed to merge Bank South with Commerce Bank.

The acquisition would give Commerce an added $124 million in assets, $107 million in gross loans, $100 million in total deposits and two branch locations in Tulsa, Okla.

Commerce is a $15 billion bank holding company with about 360 locations in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. Commerce Bank established a loan production office in Tulsa earlier this year.

“Commerce Bank already has many commercial banking relationships in Oklahoma, some dating back to the early 1900s,” said Kevin Barth, president and chief operating officer of Commerce Bank’s Kansas City region, in a news release. “Many of those customers have been asking Commerce to open offices in Oklahoma. We are eager to accommodate them.”

Commerce shares (Nasdaq: CBSH) closed Monday at $48.59, compared to a 52-week range of $43.43 to $50.60.