Louisiana bank to enter Dallas with its second Texas deal
Acquiring Wichita Falls, the holding company for the 36-year-old First National Bank, would add $1.2 billion of Texas-based deposits, including $364 million in the rapidly growing Dallas-Forth Worth Metroplex, where First National operates five branches. It would also significantly alter Investar's funding profile by raising the level of Texas-based deposits, currently at 6%, to 37% for the pro forma company.
In a press release, Investar CEO John D'Angelo described the merger, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, as "a pivotal moment in the history of Investar Bank and a defining milestone for our company."
To help fund the purchase, Baton Rouge-based Investar announced the completion of a private placement of $32.5 million in preferred stock on Tuesday. The company said it would use the stock-sale proceeds to support the acquisition and for general corporate purposes, "including organic growth and other potential acquisitions."
An Investar spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the company's level of interest in pursuing more M&A deals.
Investar agreed to pay about $84 million in cash and stock for Wichita Falls, which is based in the North Texas city of the same name.
Investors appear to favor the transaction. Shares in Investar were trading up nearly 6% midday Wednesday at $21.56 per share.
Investar entered Texas in 2019 by acquiring the $125 million-asset Mainland Bank in Texas City.
Following the completion of the deal announced Tuesday, the combined company would start with $4 billion of assets, $3.3 billion of loans and $3.5 billion of deposits. Investar is projecting 2026 earnings of $3.08 per share, reflecting 35% accretion. Investar reported earnings per share of $2.06 in 2024 and $1.69 in 2023.
"We believe this merger creates more long-term value for our customers, communities and shareholders," Wichita Falls President David Flack said in the press release. "It will allow us to bring new products and services to our customers while keeping the same banking locations and trusted local bankers."
The sale to Investar "provides a great opportunity to enhance strategic synergies through combined resources," Stan Pinkham, the president and CEO of First National Bank, said in the release.
Founded by D'Angelo in 2006, the $2.7 billion-asset Investar has frequently employed M&A to fuel its growth. Investar acquired the $249 million-asset Citizens Bancshares in Ville Platte, Louisiana, for $46 million in July 2017. Five months later, in December 2017, the company was able to bulk up in its core Baton Rouge market, completing a $22 million deal for the $131 million-asset BOJ Bancshares.
In recent years, Investar has pursued a multistate expansion strategy. It bought Cheha Financial Group in Oxford, Alabama, for $41 million in April 2021.In contrast with Investar, which is a significant commercial and small business lender, Wichita Falls has focused on mortgage lending. In addition to its seven branches, it operates two mortgage offices.
As of March 31, one-to-four-family mortgages made up just under half of its $1.1 billion loan portfolio. Investar said it plans to sell $200 million of mortgages to reduce the pro forma company's residential loan concentration and pay down corporate debt and noncore deposits.
The announcement that Investar expects the deal to close in about five months is in keeping with a growing trend of more timely M&A decisions by regulators. In a research note Monday, Seaport Research Partners Senior Analyst Laurie Havener Hunsicker noted that 10 of the 21 bank deals announced in January and February 2025 have already closed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
9 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Fomento Economico: Q2 Earnings Snapshot
MONTERREY N.L., Mexico (AP) — MONTERREY N.L., Mexico (AP) — Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB (FMX) on Monday reported net income of $139.1 million in its second quarter. The Monterrey N.l., Mexico-based company said it had net income of 40 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted to account for discontinued operations, were 42 cents per share. The Coca-Cola bottler posted revenue of $10.84 billion in the period. _____
New York Post
9 minutes ago
- New York Post
America's growing copper crisis finds a promising solution in Arizona's backyard
The United States has a copper problem. Simply put, the U.S. uses a lot of it and there aren't enough American mines to pull it out of the ground fast enough. But Ivanhoe Electric is moving toward becoming the first U.S.-based company to open a copper mine stateside in over a decade – and with copper prices shooting to record highs, the timing couldn't be better. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March hoping to add copper to the critical minerals list, which would expedite permitting and offer tax incentives to mining companies. And on July 8, the president announced a 50% tariff on copper imports starting Aug. 1. The U.S. only produces about half the copper it uses, ranking fifth in production behind Chile, Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru and China. Part of the reason is that it takes an average of 29 years for copper mines to begin production, due to a lengthy permitting and approval process. But Ivanhoe Electric's Santa Cruz Project, about 40 miles south of Phoenix in Casa Grande, Arizona, aims to be up and running by 2028, only eight years since it started the project. 3 The U.S. only produces about half the copper it uses, ranking fifth in production behind Chile, Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru and China. AFP via Getty Images 'It's like tomorrow in mining terms. It's incredibly, incredibly fast and incredibly efficient,' said Taylor Melvin, president and CEO of the Tempe-based company. 'One of our great advantages is being on private land here in Arizona. It allows us to have a much more streamlined permitting process, which allows us to have a more accelerated timetable to construction and production.' The company has been collecting core samples all over its 6,000 acres of land, plotting the best spots to mine. The mine will be underground and there's enough copper to produce nearly 3 billion pounds of copper over the next 23 years. When completed, it would 'place us in the top five or six mines in the United States,' says Melvin. Another advantage of the mine is how the copper is extracted. There are only two copper smelters in the U.S., meaning much of the copper that's mined gets shipped overseas to be processed. But Ivanhoe Electric will use leaching to extract the copper, due to the characteristics of the ore found at the Santa Cruz mine site. 3 The company has been collecting core samples all over its 6,000 acres of land, plotting the best spots to mine. Ivanhoe Electric 'We'll be producing pure copper metal on this site ready for consumption by U.S. consumers,' said Melvin. And Americans – and the rest of the world – are set to consume a lot more. According to the International Energy Agency, demand for copper was around 26 million tons in 2024. In 2050, that number is predicted to reach nearly 40 million tons. But there's one major problem: many mines will be empty by then, meaning production is set to go down unless new mines are established. 'Copper is absolutely a critical metal. We need copper for every aspect of our economy. We need it to expand and improve our electric grid. We need to support technological advances like artificial intelligence and the data centers that are required to support AI. And we absolutely need copper for our defense industry,' said Melvin. 'So it's really hard to imagine a metal that is more critical and in higher volume than copper.' 3 But there's one major problem: many mines will be empty by then, meaning production is set to go down unless new mines are established. Ivanhoe Electric That leaves Ivanhoe Electric and other U.S. copper companies in a strong position. Construction of the Santa Cruz project will employ 900 full-time workers, falling to around 600 after completion and during the mining phase. Many of the positions will pay six figures, and the jobs are all but guaranteed for the next 25 years. And with the backing of Trump and with hopes of officially moving copper onto the critical minerals list, mining companies have a positive outlook. 'In my 25 years in the natural resources in the copper mining industry, I've never seen a more supportive environment for domestic mining than we have right now,' said Melvin. 'We're in the perfect place at the perfect time with a project. To be a U.S. company with a product in the United States on private land that can produce copper metal to supply domestic demand is perfect at the time for Ivanhoe Electric, and it's a great environment in the United States for domestic mining right now.'
UPI
10 minutes ago
- UPI
Hyundai Steel, LG Energy Solution turn profit in second quarter
SEOUL, July 28 (UPI) -- Major South Korean companies Hyundai Steel and LG Energy Solution turned a profit during the second quarter of this year. Hyundai Steel, the country's No. 2 iron maker, announced last week that it posted $4.3 billion in sales during the April-June period, with an operating profit of $74 million. The company suffered a loss over the previous two quarters. "During the second half of this year, Chinese steel exports are expected to decline further due to supply restrictions in the country," NH Investment & Securities analyst Lee Jae-kwang noted in a market report. "The anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese heavy plate steel are also projected to have a positive effect on Hyundai Steel," he said. In April, South Korea levied tariffs of up to 38% on Chinese heavy plate steel for four months. LG Energy Solution, a rechargeable battery maker, said Friday that the Seoul-based corporation recorded revenue of $4 billion in the second quarter, with an operating profit of $356 million. The company was profitable for the first time in six quarters. "We succeeded in turning a profit even excluding the [U.S.] Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, thanks to an increased share of high-margin products and projects manufactured in North America," LG Energy Solution CFO Lee Chang-sil told a conference call. He said that the company would try to improve profits later this year by boosting the production of batteries for energy storage systems. LG Energy Solution has received tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act for running and building battery plants in the United States. Also included in other turnaround companies in the second quarter were Hotel Shilla, an operator of luxury hotels and duty-free shops, and brokerage house Woori Investment Securities.
