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Southern Bank operates its regional corporate office in Springfield.
Photo courtesy Google Maps
Southern Bank operates its regional corporate office in Springfield.

Southern Bank pens $29M acquisition

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Poplar Bluff-based Southern Missouri Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: SMBC) last week announced a $29 million acquisition.

The company, which operates three Southern Bank branches in Springfield, agreed to buy Rolla-based Central Federal Bancshares Inc. for $15.90 per share in cash. In the deal expected to close in the second quarter, Southern Bank would take over Central Federal Savings & Loan Association’s single branch in Rolla, as well as $69 million in assets and $46 million in deposits, according to a news release.

“Tangible book value per common share is expected to be diluted by slightly less than 1% at closing, with a projected earn-back period of approximately two years, based on the crossover method,” Southern Bank President and CEO Greg Steffens said in the release. “While this is a very low-risk transaction for us, its ultimate success will be based not on these near-term statistics, but on our ability to meaningfully grow Central’s role in the Rolla market over time.

“As the home to the Missouri University of Science and Technology, a nationally recognized, highly selective institution focusing on a number of fields of study that will drive economic growth in coming decades, we see the Rolla community as poised for growth and one where we expect our products and services to be well-received.”

As of Sept. 30, 2019, Southern Bank had $2.3 billion in assets and $1.9 billion in deposits. It operates 47 branches in Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois.

Southern Bank ranked No. 11 on Springfield Business Journal’s 2019 list of the area’s largest banks and savings banks. The company reported $356.7 million in Springfield metropolitan statistical area deposits as of June 30, 2019.

In 2018, Southern Bank bank purchased the home of its regional corporate office, the Gardner Capital Inc. building at 4803 S. National Ave., according to past reporting.

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