Purchase to expand Stuttgart bank's turf

Farmers and Merchants Bankshares of Stuttgart has agreed to acquire Mountain Home Bancshares, the two banks said Tuesday.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The shareholders of Mountain Home Bancshares, which owns Integrity First Bank of Mountain Home, will receive cash from Farmers and Merchants Bankshares.

The acquisition will expand the Farmers and Merchants bank's territory into Jonesboro, Bentonville, Mountain Home, Flippin, Gassville, Lakeview and Pocahontas, said Gary Hudson, chief executive officer of Farmers and Merchants. Farmers and Merchants already has branches in Stuttgart, Des Arc, DeWitt, Farmington, Fayetteville, Hazen, Marianna, Morrilton, Perryville, Prairie Grove and West Fork.

Integrity First Bank has about $525 million in assets. Farmers and Merchants Bankshares has almost $1.1 billion in assets. When the purchase closes in the spring, Farmers and Merchants will have about $1.6 billion in assets, making it the seventh-largest bank in the state.

-- David Smith

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