Alston & Bird client BancorpSouth Bank has signed definitive merger agreements with Summit Financial Enterprises, Inc., parent company of Summit Bank, National Association, and Van Alstyne Financial Corporation, parent company of Texas Star Bank.
The two deals will broaden BancorpSouth’s footprint in Florida and Texas. Summit Financial, based in Panama City, FL, has four offices and $472 million in total assets, while Van Alstyne Financial, headquartered in Van Alstyne, TX, has eight offices and $378 million in total assets.
Both acquisitions are subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals and are expected to close in the second half of 2019. Upon completion, Summit Financial and Van Alstyne Financial will be merged with BancorpSouth.
These are BancorpSouth’s first and second acquisitions of 2019. In November 2018, Alston & Bird represented BancorpSouth in its planned acquisitions of Casey Bancorp and Merchants Trust.
Based in Tupelo, MS, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, BancorpSouth has approximately $18 billion in assets and operates 285 branches in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas, in addition to an insurance location in Illinois.
Advising BancorpSouth in the Summit Financial and Van Alstyne deals is an Alston & Bird team led by partner Kyle Healy (Corporate & Business Transactions), partner Sandy Brown and associate John Gerl (Financial Services & Products), partner John Shannon and counsel Kerry Wenzel (Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation), partner Cliff Stanford (Bank Regulatory), and partner Clare Draper (Labor & Employment).