Dive brief:
- Houston, Texas-based Third Coast Bancshares will buy Oklahoma City-based Great Plains Bancshares and its subsidiary, Great Plains National Bank, for roughly $239.6 million in stock.
- At closing, the combined company will have about $9 billion in assets and 43 branches.
- The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.
Dive insight:
In June, Great Plains National Bank reported $1.9 billion in assets, $1.7 billion in loans and $1.7 billion in total deposits. The centenarian bank’s 23 branches span Oklahoma and Texas.
A Third Coast-Great Plains tie-up would bring Third Coast into Oklahoma and also deeper into the growing Dallas market, where Great Plains entered in 2018 through its acquisition of Liberty Federal Savings Bank, according to the Dallas Business Journal.
“Together, we are creating a stronger organization with greater scale, expanded capabilities, and increased capacity to support our customers,” said Bart Caraway, founder and CEO of Third Coast, in a prepared statement on the merger. “This combination will strengthen our ability to serve businesses and communities across our markets while creating long-term value for all stakeholders."
Under the merger agreement, Third Coast’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Thunder Merger Sub, will merge into Great Plains, with Great Plains' shareholders receiving Third Coast common stock shares in exchange for their Great Plains shares.
After the merger, Great Plains will then merge into Third Coast, and Great Plains National Bank will merge into Third Coast Bank.
The acquisition target will continue operating as Great Plains Bank, a division of Third Coast Bank.
“Great Plains was built on the belief that strong relationships create strong communities. As we looked to the future, it was important to find a banking partner that shared that belief,” Mark Russell, CEO of Great Plains National Bank, said in a prepared statement. “Third Coast's commitment to relationship banking, local leadership, and community investment makes this partnership a natural fit.”
Russell will continue to serve in a leadership role after the deal closes. In addition, two Great Plains representatives will be appointed to the boards of directors of Third Coast and Third Coast Bank.
Pro forma equity ownership will be roughly 78% held by Third Coast shareholders and 22% by Great Plains shareholders.
The plan comes roughly a year after Third Coast announced its most recent deal, its $123 million purchase of Austin, Texas-based Keystone Bancshares. That deal, which strengthened Third Coast’s position in the Austin market, closed in February.
