The Bank of Missouri announces merger plans

The Bank of Missouri, based in Perryville, has about $540 million in assets, but only $48 million is in the Springfield market, according to Mick Nitsch, Springfield community bank president for The Bank of Missouri. Nitsch left Regions Bank to open Bank of Missouri’s limited-service branch here in September 2006.

With $97 million in assets, Countryside Bank is the 19th-largest bank in the Springfield metropolitan area, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s June 30 market share report. The Bank of Missouri is not listed in the FDIC report because it does not have a full-service branch in the market. The merged bank would move up four to five spots on the list.

Countryside Bank has two full-service branches, one each in Republic and Springfield. The Bank of Missouri has filed for FDIC approval to convert its 1602 E. Republic Road location into a full-service facility; that change should happen Feb. 1, Nitsch said.

Jack Muench, president and CEO of Countryside Bank, said the merger gives Countryside Bank the chance to immediately offer new services and higher loan limits to customers. He also noted that all 36 of Countryside’s part-time and full-time employees would stay on once the acquisition is complete and that both he and Nitsch would keep their current positions.

Nitsch said a long-standing friendship between The Bank of Missouri chairman David Crader and Countryside Bank chairman Charles Spangler “was instrumental in making this whole transaction come together.”

See SBJ’s Jan. 14 issue for more on The Bank of Missouri’s merger plans and the reaction in the banking market.[[In-content Ad]]