LITTLE ROCK — Fayetteville-based Arvest Bank will acquire 29 bank branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas from Bank of America Corp., along with most of the associated deposit accounts and loans, it said in a news release Thursday.
Arvest said it purchased 18 branch locations owned by Bank of America and the lease obligations for 11 other branch locations. The deal includes most checking, savings, individual retirement accounts and certificates of deposit, but not credit card, mortgage, brokerage or trust accounts.
Arvest expects the purchase to go through in the first quarter of 2013 if approved by regulators. The branches purchased are within, or close to, existing Arvest markets.
Nine of the acquired branches are in Arkansas — four in Hot Springs, two in Russellville and one each in Hot Springs Village, Harrison, and Mountain Home. The deal also includes 15 branches in southwest Missouri, four in western Oklahoma and one in the southeast corner of Kansas.
Detailed terms weren’t released, but the deal includes $750 million in deposits and affects about 65,000 households, said Christy Morris, vice president and marketing manager for Arvest.
Morris said Arvest is working with Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America to assure a smooth transition for customers and employees. She said the bank expects many of the Bank of America employees will transfer to Arvest and keep their current positions.
Randy Dennis, president of DD&F Consulting Group in Little Rock, a bank consulting firm, said the acquisition is a good strategic move for Arvest, filling in its existing footprint and moving into adjacent ones.
“Arvest does very well in markets like these,” he said.
Garland Binns, a Little Rock banking attorney, classified the acquisition as “large” and said it seemed to play Arvest’s strength in local markets.
“This should add to the value of the Arvest franchise,” he said.
Bank of America still will have 27 banking centers in Arkansas after the divestiture, company spokesman Diane Wagner said.
“This is the right decision for the community, our employees and our customers. As a result of this deal, the community will continue to have access to its banking center, more employees will keep their jobs, and customers will have the ability to keep banking at the same branch that is most convenient for them,” Wagner said via e-mail.
Binns said the sale by Bank of America didn’t necessarily signal weakness. He said the branches that were sold might not fit well with Bank of America’s overall strategy but could be perfect fits for Arvest.
As of June, Arvest has 110 branches in Arkansas. The bank operates more than 240 branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas.
According to data released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in October, Arvest Bank Group is the largest bank based in the state with $6.4 billion in Arkansas deposits, 15.6 percent higher than in 2011. It holds 12.1 percent of all the state’s deposits.
Including other states, Arvest had $13.8 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, according to the FDIC, and is the only Arkansas-based bank with assets exceeding $10 billion.
Bank of America is one of the world’s largest financial institutions with 5,500 banking offices and 16,300 automated teller machines., according to the company’s website.
The FDIC’s June summary of deposits, the only gauge of out-of-state banks’ Arkansas operations, shows Bank of America lost 6.5 percent of its Arkansas deposits and was ranked fourth-largest in the state with $3.1 billion in deposits.
Arvest’s chairman is Jim Walton, a son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. The bank is privately held.
Business, Pages 25 on 12/14/2012