Union Planters, Sho-Me finish bank merger, effective Jan. 1

PHOTO CAPTION:

Carol A. Erwin, assistant vice president, at left, and Judy K. Pratt, branch manager at Union Planters Bank's 2927 S. Campbell branch, worked there when it was a 1st Savings.

by Paul Flemming

SBJ Staff

Union Planters Corporation's acquisition of Sho-Me Financial Corporation was officially complete Jan. 1. Union Planters and 1st Savings Bank are now one institution, with 17 locations in southwest Missouri and about $510 million in assets.

"Now we can get on to the serious business of customer service," said Charles T. Bryant, president of Union Planters Bank of Southwest Missouri.

New signs are up at eight former 1st Savings locations, and Bryant said the conversions of systems and accounts into one has been completed. Union Planters asset total makes the merged institution about the fifth largest in the area by that measure.

"Size is not important. It's what you do to serve customers that counts," Bryant said.

He pointed to the strengths each company brings to the combination as greater than any asset figure.

"1st Savings was very good in land acquisition, land development, home construction and home mortgages," Bryant said. "You might say they were very vertically integrated. That's why we bought them."

Union Planters, Bryant said, offers the resources of an $18 billion holding company with the power to make decisions locally. Also, Union Planters had concentrated its business in areas different from 1st Savings. "As a commercial bank, we're very good."

Geographic markets matter, as well. The former 1st Savings has locations in Mount Vernon, where it was based, Aurora, Bolivar, Republic, El Dorado Springs and Springfield.

Only in Springfield did the two overlap, and in only one location were they close to each other. Union Planters sold its building at the northeast corner of Campbell and Battlefield to Trust Corporation Financial Inc. of St. Louis, with the sale closing Dec. 31. That bank's operation moved across the street to the former 1st Savings at 2927 S. Campbell.

Union Planters now has 17 branches, including its existing locations in Christian and Taney counties. The bank has 19 ATM locations in the area.

"Together, we're going to offer commercial services in markets we haven't been in," Bryant said. "Conversely, in markets we have been in, we will offer a wider range of services," in particular, the home-loan services that were 1st Savings' strength.

The consolidation of the two institutions resulted in the elimination of five or six jobs, Bryant said, with an equal amount added as a result of the changes.

"The signs have changed, but customers will still see the same people in there," Bryant said.

Ray Merryman, former president and CEO of Sho-Me Financial Corporation, the holding company of 1st Savings, and Dave Tooley, who was executive vice president, are not officers in the new bank. At the time of the acquisition it was announced that Merryman and Tooley would work on the transition through the end of 1997 and then assess their roles in the new bank.

Bryant said Tooley is now a director on the board of Union Planters Bank of Southwest Missouri, bringing to nine the members of that board. He is working in the areas of employee and customer retention.

A conversion team of officers from both institutions made decisions on pricing and services offered by the new entity.

"If we'd just imposed ourselves, (the transition) wouldn't have worked as well as it did," Bryant said.

The main street sign at each 1st Savings location was changed Jan. 19, and Bryant said the remaining signs will be changed shortly. Payne Sign Company was the contractor on the job.

"I'm very pleased with how smooth things have gone," Bryant said. He is the veteran of merging five institutions with Union Planters in east Tennessee.

The 1st Savings acquisition has "gone smoother than any previous one I was involved in."

The acquisition was announced in June 1997. Union Planters paid about $59 million in a stock swap for the Mount Vernon thrift.

The deal called for Sho-Me shares to be exchanged for 0.7694 shares of Union Planters stock. At the time of the announcement, Union Planters stock traded for $51.125. The stock closed Jan. 21 at $60.25 per share.

At the time of the acquisition, 1st Savings had about $305 million in assets and Union Planters of Southwest Missouri had about $184 million in assets.

"Change is not always well-received," Bryant said. "We want our customers to know this is going to be a change for the better. We're trying to tell that story. We can and will do what we have said."

The change has come with an ad-

vertising campaign, including television commercials, billboards and newspaper advertisements, announcing the new name.

INSET CAPTION:

The acquisition was announced in June 1997. Union Planters paid about $59 million in a stock swap for the Mount Vernon thrift.[[In-content Ad]]