Bank of Trumann announces plans to merge with Southern Bancorp

CEO Jerry T. Sims recently announced the impending merger of the Bank of Trumann with Southern Bancorp. (Democrat photo/Mark Randall)

Jerry T. Sims, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Delta Bankshares, Inc., the parent company of Bank of Trumann, and Phillip N. Baldwin, President and CEO of Southern Bancorp, announced this week that a merger agreement has been reached combining the two Arkansas-based banks.

The merger is anticipated to be completed in the third quarter of 2009 and will enhance the position of both institutions in providing quality rural banking solutions, both Sims and Baldwin said.

"We look forward to being a part of the Southern Bancorp family," said John R. "Rick" Gillette, President and CEO of Bank of Trumann. "The mission of Southern Bancorp will allow us to expand our capabilities not only in Trumann but throughout the Arkansas Delta."

Southern Bancorp is a development bank holding company dedicated to helping transform rural economies by creating new trends of investment in people, jobs, businesses and property and is the largest rural community development bank in the United States.

Southern Bancorp, with the addition of Bank of Trumann's $102 million in total assets will manage over $1 billion in assets.

"As we move under the Southern Bancorp umbrella, our customers will notice very little visible change with respect to personnel, banking hours and such," Gillette noted. "Our customers will continue to bank with people they know."

"We do not anticipate a downside to the immediate or long-term future of this merger," Sims noted. "We are excited about the additional abilities and access to capital that will allow us to extend our legacy of excellence."

Gillette also said that the continued strength, stability and soundness of Bank of Trumann were ensured by its new affiliation with Southern Bancorp, which will add Sims to its Board of Directors.

Bank of Trumann is affiliated with First National Bank Blytheville, which operates in three cities: Blytheville, Gosnell and Manila, and which will also will be a part of the merger with Southern Bancorp, Sims said.

Penny Cole counts a stack of cash at one of the teller windows at Bank of Trumann. (Democrat photo/Mark Randall)

"In the coming months, we will be consistent in our communication to our customers and to the community," Sims said. "As the completion date of the merger approaches, we will renew our efforts to keep everyone informed, and to share the excitement of anticipating being an even stronger, more active bank throughout the region."

"We look forward to being an active corporate citizen in the long-standing tradition which Bank of Trumann has established," Baldwin said. "This merger will provide Southern Bancorp with an anchor point for us in northeast Arkansas. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel with what Bank of Trumann has accomplished. We will be supporting their business model and their traditions with added expertise and investment capability."