City Bancorp, Parent Company of The Signature Bank, to Merge With BancorpSouth
October 31 2006 - 5:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
* With planned merger, BancorpSouth will move into Springfield and
St. Louis, Missouri, expanding the company's market presence into
its eighth state TUPELO, Miss. and SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Oct. 31
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Officials of Tupelo, Mississippi based
BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE:BXS) and City Bancorp, parent company of
The Signature Bank headquartered in Springfield, Missouri,
announced today the signing of a definitive agreement pursuant to
which City Bancorp will merge with and into BancorpSouth, Inc. The
Signature Bank currently operates six full-service banking
locations in Springfield, Missouri and one loan production office
in Clayton (St. Louis), Missouri. The Signature Bank had
approximately $847 million in assets and $600 million in deposits
as of September 30, 2006. The transaction is valued at
approximately $170 million and pursuant to the terms of the merger
agreement, shareholders of City Bancorp would receive 50% cash and
50% BancorpSouth common stock. The merger is subject to the
approval of City Bancorp's shareholders and the approval of federal
and state banking regulators. The Springfield metropolitan
statistical area is the third largest metropolitan area in
Missouri, with a population of approximately 400,000. From 2000 to
2005, the population of Springfield grew over 8%, almost double the
population growth rate in the state of Missouri. The St. Louis
metropolitan statistical area is comprised of 17 counties in
Missouri and Illinois, with a population of 2.81 million. St. Louis
is the largest metropolitan area in Missouri. BancorpSouth Chairman
and CEO Aubrey Patterson said, "We are extremely pleased to be
partnering with such a strong franchise, led by a veteran
management team and supported by loyal, high-caliber employees. We
believe BancorpSouth's unique brand of decentralized decision
making supported by our state-of-the-industry technology and
product line will be welcomed by our new customers." The Signature
Bank Chairman and CEO David Kunze said, "We believe this merger is
a win for our shareholders, a win for our team members, and
certainly a win for our customers. We look forward to becoming a
part of the BancorpSouth family." The Signature Bank's lending
products include commercial real estate, commercial and industrial
real estate construction loans, residential and real estate loans
and a variety of consumer loans. The bank's lenders have focused on
small to middle market commercial customers in Springfield, St.
Louis and surrounding areas. Deposit products include non-interest
bearing demand, interest bearing demand, NOW, savings, money
market, certificates of deposit and other deposits. The bank also
offers brokerage services, through its Brokerage and Investment
Services division. "The Signature Bank's successful model of
stressing the importance of quality, profitable growth and expense
control mirrors BancorpSouth's operating philosophy and approach,"
said Jim Kelley, BancorpSouth's President and COO. Robert Fulp, The
Signature Bank's President, added, "BancorpSouth's community bank
style of banking matches perfectly with our bank's one-on-one
business development and service approach. Their hands-on, local
decision making, complemented by industry leading technology and
their broad retail and commercial product lines will help us move
to an even higher level of financial service for our markets."
BancorpSouth, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in
Tupelo, Mississippi with approximately $11.9 billion in assets.
BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc.,
operates approximately 282 commercial banking, mortgage, insurance,
trust and broker/dealer locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Forward Looking
Statements: Certain statements contained in this news release may
not be based on historical facts and are "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may be
identified by reference to a future period or by the use of
forward- looking terminology, such as "anticipate," "believe,"
"estimate," "expect," "foresee," "may," "might," "will," "intend,"
"could," "would" or "plan," or future or conditional verb tenses,
and variations or negatives of such terms. These forward-looking
statements include, without limitation, those relating to the
possible effects of the proposed merger, acceptance by customers of
The Signature Bank of BancorpSouth's products and services, and
market acceptance of BancorpSouth generally in new markets such as
Missouri. We caution you not to place undue reliance on the
forward-looking statements contained in this news release, in that
actual results could differ materially from those indicated in such
forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors.
These factors include, but are not limited to, the ability to
obtain required shareholder and regulatory approvals for the
merger, the ability of BancorpSouth and City Bancorp to close the
merger, BancorpSouth's ability to successfully integrate the
operations of The Signature Bank after the merger, the ability of
BancorpSouth to provide and market competitive services and
products in a new market, the ability of BancorpSouth to attract,
train and retain qualified personnel, changes in customer
preferences, changes in BancorpSouth's operating or expansion
strategy, changes in economic conditions and government fiscal and
monetary policies, fluctuations in prevailing interest rates and
the ability of BancorpSouth to manage its assets and liabilities to
limit exposure to changing interest rates, changes in laws and
regulations affecting financial institutions, the ability of
BancorpSouth to manage its growth and effectively serve an
expanding customer and market base, the geographic concentrations
of BancorpSouth's assets, the ability of BancorpSouth generally to
compete with other financial services companies, possible adverse
rulings, judgments, settlements and other outcomes of pending or
threatened litigation, other factors generally understood to affect
the financial condition or results of financial services companies
and other factors detailed from time to time in BancorpSouth's
press releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. We undertake no obligation to update these
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that
occur after the date of this news release. In connection with the
proposed merger, BancorpSouth will file a registration statement on
Form S-4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Shareholders
of BancorpSouth and City Bancorp are encouraged to read the
registration statement, including the proxy statement/prospectus
that will be a part of the registration statement, because it will
contain important information about the merger, BancorpSouth and
City Bancorp. After the registration statement is filed with the
SEC, the proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents
will be available for free on the SEC's web site
(http://www.sec.gov/), and the proxy statement/prospectus will also
be made available for free from the Corporate Secretary of each of
BancorpSouth and City Bancorp. DATASOURCE: BancorpSouth, Inc.
CONTACT: Financial, Nash Allen or Gary Bonds of BancorpSouth,
+1-662-680-2331, or David Kunze or Robert Fulp of The Signature
Bank, +1-417-887-2265, or Media, Randy Burchfield of BancorpSouth,
+1-662-620-4302, or David Kunze or Robert Fulp of The Signature
Bank, +1-417-887-2265 Web site: http://www.bancorpsouth.com/
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