First Guaranty Bancshares in Hammond, La., has agreed to buy Premier Bancshares in McKinney, Texas.
The $1.4 billion-asset First Guaranty said in a press release Monday that it will pay about $21 million in cash and stock for the $153 million-asset parent of Synergy Bank. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.
"This expansion into the Dallas/Fort Worth area … is the natural progression down I-20 from our growing northwest Louisiana market presence,” Alton Lewis, First Guaranty’s president and CEO, said in the release.
“While establishing us in this strong and rapidly growing market, it also allows us to tap into the Small Business Administration expertise of Synergy,” Lewis added.
