Springfield’s “rising star” in the banking scene is waning, even while the leaders of Springfield-based Liberty Bank continue to climb the career ladder.
As growth-focused Pine Bluff, Ark.-based Simmons First National Corp. (Nasdaq: SFNC) inches closer to finalizing its purchase of Liberty Bank, an executive vice president with Simmons said two Liberty administrators would take on regional rolls for the bank. David Garner, Simmons First’s chief accounting officer and controller, also said the acquisition is now likely to involve a full brand change in the Springfield market.
With 24 branches, Liberty Bank – which runs
TheRisingStar.com in keeping with its logo – will be a dominant player in Simmons First’s Kansas-Missouri region, which currently includes 18 Simmons’ banking centers. That dynamic is helping to propel Liberty CEO Gary Metzger and Executive Vice President Garry Robinson to regional leadership roles, Garner said.
“It is our anticipation that Mr. Metzger and Mr. Robinson with Liberty Bank will continue to play an integral part in our banking organization,” Garner said, adding the heavy lifting to reorganize the company amid its acquisition is underway. “Our plan is to create three operating regions in Arkansas.”
With the $206.9 million all-stock agreement with Liberty expected to close in the fourth quarter, Garner said those branches would join existing operations in Springfield, Sedalia, St. Louis, Kansas City and Salina and Wichita, Kan., to create a Kansas-Missouri region. “Mr. Metzger will be the chairman of that Kansas-Missouri region,” he said.
Robinson’s move into regional leadership is in the role of community bank president for southwest Missouri, Metzger said, adding Robinson also would take the lead on rolling out Liberty’s vaunted U.S. Small Business Administration loan program throughout the Simmons’ footprint. Liberty has long been a leader in the Springfield area in terms of SBA-backed loans, last year writing $36.5 million through the federal program, according to Springfield Business Journal list research.
In the meantime, Metzger is juggling current day-to-day operations with the planned changes.
“With the impending merger set to close prior to year end, we will begin training for our associates regarding the additional products and services that we will be able to offer – once we receive all of the necessary regulatory approvals,” Metzger said in an email.
The new services include wealth management, trust and brokerage services, life and long-term care insurance, property and casualty insurance, credit cards and cash management, he said.
The Liberty CEO said with the new region, he’ll oversee roughly $1.1 billion in loans and $1.3 billion in deposits. With that level of responsibility, Metzger said he’s already been making connections with existing Simmons’ managers in the region.
“Simmons has strong leadership in their respective markets and once all of the regulatory approvals have been received, I will be interacting more often and in greater detail with the market presidents as we grow the Simmons franchise in Missouri and Kansas,” Metzger said.
In relation to his work for Liberty, Robinson currently is at the center of a lawsuit accusing him of self-dealing in a Barton County land purchase in the late 1990s. The Circuit Court case claims Robinson had an independent stake in a company that purchased land at a discount, through a loan by his employer, and that Robinson fraudulently misrepresented or concealed his involvement.
Judge Neal Quitno was assigned to the case Aug. 5, the most recent action in the suit, and there were no scheduled hearings as of Sept. 11, according to online court records. Robinson did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Metzger declined to comment on the case citing bank policy, and legal representative Virginia Fry of Husch Blackwell LLP has declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Liberty is coming off a profitable quarter, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. filings. The bank posted net income of $4.5 million in the three months ending June 30, which is up nearly 18 percent from second-quarter 2013.
At Simmons, it’s unclear how the merger would impact current Simmons employees working at the bank’s single Springfield branch on East Battlefield Road.
Garner said Simmons’ local Community President Jeff McNatt would be key in the merger, but bank officials had not yet determined his new role.
The pending decision on naming Liberty’s two dozen branches is based on Simmons’ market research that is nearing completion.
“That has not been 100 percent decided yet,” Garner said, adding Simmons First’s internal marketing department has conducted research efforts following the May 28 purchase agreement. “More than likely, Liberty will be renamed to Simmons. Historically, all of our acquisitions have been renamed to Simmons.”
Since November, Simmons First has penned agreements to buy four banks. Including the Liberty deal, the bank’s assets are expected to come in at nearly $8 billion, which is roughly equal to all local deposits held by the 41 banks in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area. In late 2013, Simmons completed a buyout of Little Rock, Ark.-based Metropolitan National Bank (not the Springfield-based bank of the same name) and in March agreed to buy Little Rock-based Delta Trust & Banking Corp. In early May, bank officials signed a deal to buy Union, Tenn.-based Community First Bancshares Inc., extending Simmons’ footprint into four states.
Garner said he expects the Liberty deal to be approved by regulators with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve in time for a closing date in mid- to late-November.
“We have filed form S-4 with the SEC for the merger,” Garner said, noting the SEC merger registration form covers Liberty and Community First in Tennessee. “We are in process of responding with an amended S-4, and then we’ll move from there.”
