Miss. Bank to Buy A Rival in $63M Deal

BancSouth Corp., Tupelo, Miss., said Monday that it has a deal to acquire Merchants Capital Corp., Vicksburg, Miss., for about $63.1 million in stock.

BancSouth, the $4.4 billion-asset parent of Bank of Mississippi, said it would exchange 1.884 share of its stock for each share of Merchants stock.

After adjusting for a proposed split on May 15, Merchants' shareholders would get about 3.768 BancSouth shares for each share of their stock.

The deal, expected to close in the third quarter, would expand Bank of Mississippi's presence in Merchants' home base. Bank of Mississippi operates two branches in Vicksburg, and Merchants has four offices there.

Merchants "is a bulwark of the Vicksburg business community, and Merchants' philosophy of planting deep roots in the Vicksburg community mirrors that of Bank of Mississippi," said BancSouth chairman and chief executive officer Aubrey B. Patterson.

Merchants, founded in 1886, has six branches and $222 million of assets. It is expected to assume the Bank of Mississippi name when the deal is completed.

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