Bear State Financial, Inc. Announces Receipt of Required Regulatory Approvals for Merger with Arvest Bank
April 02 2018 - 4:35PM
Business Wire
Bear State Financial, Inc. (“Bear State”) (NASDAQ: BSF), parent
company of Bear State Bank, and Arvest Bank (“Arvest”) announced
today they have received all required regulatory approvals for the
previously-announced merger between the parties. Shareholders of
Bear State previously approved the merger at a meeting held on
November 15, 2017. Bear State and Arvest anticipate closing the
merger on or about April 20, 2018, subject to customary closing
conditions.
To satisfy the conditions imposed by the Federal Reserve’s order
of approval, Bear State has entered into an agreement with First
Financial Bank of El Dorado, Arkansas to sell both of the Bear
State Bank branches located in Mena, Arkansas. The two Mena
branches had deposits totaling approximately $58 million and loans
totaling approximately $30 million as of February 28, 2018. The
closing of the sale of the Mena branches is expected to occur
within 180 days following the closing of the merger with
Arvest.
Following the merger, customers of Bear State Bank and Arvest
will not notice any immediate changes. At a later date, Bear State
Bank’s branding will change to Arvest Bank, with the full
conversion of systems expected to occur later in 2018. In addition,
Bear State Bank and First Financial Bank will be providing
additional information to customers in Mena affected by the
divestiture of those branches.
About Bear State Financial, Inc.
Bear State Financial, Inc. is the parent company for Bear State
Bank. Bear State Financial, Inc. common stock is traded on the
NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “BSF.” For more information
on Bear State Financial, Inc. please visit
www.bearstatefinancial.com. Its principal subsidiary, Bear State
Bank, is a community oriented financial institution providing a
broad line of financial products to individuals and business
customers. Bear State Bank operates 42 branches, three personalized
technology centers equipped with interactive teller machines and
two loan production offices throughout Arkansas, Southwest Missouri
and Southeast Oklahoma.
About Arvest Bank
Arvest Bank, named by Forbes magazine as one of “America’s Best
Large Employers” for 2017, operates more than 250 bank branches in
Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas through a group of 16
locally managed markets, each with its own local board and
management team. These banks serve customers in more than 120
communities, with extended weekday banking hours at many
locations. Arvest also provides a wide range of banking
services including loans, deposits, treasury management, credit
cards, mortgage loans and mortgage servicing. Arvest is an
Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC.
Caution About Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains certain forward-looking information
about future events that is intended to be covered by the safe
harbor for “forward-looking statements” provided by the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than
statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. In
some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words
such as “may,” “hope,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,”
“potential,” “continue,” “could,” “future” or the negative of those
terms or other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking
statements include, without limitation, statements relating to the
terms and closing of the proposed transaction between Bear State
and Arvest and the pending sale of Bear State’s Mena branch. You
should carefully read forward-looking statements, including
statements that contain these words, because they discuss the
future expectations or state other “forward-looking” information
about Bear State and Arvest. A number of important factors could
cause actual results or events to differ materially from those
indicated by such forward-looking statements, many of which are
beyond the parties’ control, including the parties’ ability to
consummate the transaction or satisfy the conditions to the
completion of the transaction; the failure of the proposed merger
to close for any other reason. Bear State and Arvest assume no
obligation to update the information in this communication, except
as otherwise required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, all of which
speak only as of the date hereof.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180402005823/en/
Bear State Financial, Inc.Matt Machen | CEO,
501-975-6033orSherri Billings | CFO, 501-975-6033
Bear State Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BSF)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024
Bear State Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BSF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2023 to Jun 2024