IN BRIEF: Miss. Bank to Buy 2 Union Planters Branches

Britton & Koontz First National Bank of Natchez, Miss., has a deal to buy two branches from Union Planters Corp. for an undisclosed price.

The deal would give Britton & Koontz five branches, all in Natchez. In addition to the real estate, the $170 million-asset bank would buy about $13 million of deposits and $1.5 million of loans.

Union Planters, Memphis, acquired the branches last November when it bought Magna Bancorp, a Hattiesburg, Miss.-based thrift holding company. This deal, expected to close before yearend, would mark the $30 billion- asset company's exit from rural Adams County.

W. Page Ogden, president and chief executive officer of Britton & Koontz, said the branches' thrift roots made them attractive.

"We are already a major originator of residential mortgage loans around here, so those branches should be a natural fit," he said.

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