Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff announced Thursday evening that it had struck a deal to acquire another Tennessee bank: First South Bank of Jackson.
Publicly traded SFNC, parent of Simmons Bank, will buy First South's holding company, Hardeman County Investment Co., with cash and stock currently valued at $72.2 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.
First South has assets of $464 million and 10 branches in western Tennessee. Simmons currently has assets of about $8.2 million, and 43 of its 156 offices are in Tennessee. Simmons entered the Volunteer State with the purchase of First State Bank of Union City in February 2015 and in September completed the purchase of Citizens National Bank of Athens, Tennessee.
"The combination of First South Bank and Simmons Bank presents a great opportunity for additional growth with expanded products and services in markets very important to our company. The addition of First South Bank strengthens our presence in western Tennessee and gives us a partner that shares common goals, experiences, cultures, and reputations as outstanding community bankers and corporate citizens," Simmons CEO George A. Makris Jr. said in the announcement.
Each outstanding share of common stock and equivalents of Hardeman will be converted into the right to receive 4.8393 shares of the Company’s common stock and $181.47 in cash, all subject to certain conditions and potential adjustments.
First South reported net income of $6.3 million in 2015 and $3.4 million in the first half of 2016. It had $57.3 million in equity capital as of June 30.
Simmons was advised by Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Inc., a subsidiary of Stifel. Hardeman was advised by Olsen Palmer LLC.