Southern Bank to acquire Ark. company

Poplar Bluff-based Southern Missouri Bancorp. (Nasdaq: SMBC) has agreed to acquire Bald Knob, Ark.-based Citizens State Bank.

Southern Missouri, which operates a Southern Bank branch in Springfield at 4650 S. National Ave., is purchasing the stock of the Arkansas company in a deal expected to close in the first half of 2014, pending regulatory approvals, according to a news release. As of Sept. 30, Southern Missouri held assets of $831.6 million and deposits of $635.7 million, according to a financial filing.

The value of the transaction was undisclosed in the release, and an official could not be reached for comment by deadline.

After the acquisition, Southern Bank would hold assets of roughly $966 million, loans of $721 million and deposits of $771 million, as well as operate 25 branches in southern Missouri and northeast and north central Arkansas.

Southern Bank got started in Springfield when banking veteran Dave Tooley left retirement in September 2010 to open a loan production office in the city. From the loan production office, a full-service branch was birthed in 2011, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

SMBC shares were trading at $31.21 as of 10:13 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $21.58 to $31.50.