Texas

Continuing its string of Texas acquisitions, Prosperity Bancshares in Houston announced Thursday that it is buying Community National Bank in Bellaire for $26.6 million in cash and stock.

A Dallas-area investment group has applied to become a bank holding company so it could acquire a small bank outside of Austin.

Post Oak Bank in Houston is looking to raise roughly $20 million through a stock sale and could use at least a portion of the proceeds to make its first-ever acquisition.

MetroCorp Bancshares (MCBI) in Houston has commenced a public stock offering to raise $40 million of common equity.

PlainsCapital's relatively weak price may give aspiring sellers a reason to pause, though industry observers say there are reasons why this deal failed to meet the hot premiums that other Texas banks have commanded.

Hilltop Holdings announced Wednesday that it is buying PlainsCapital of Dallas for roughly $520 million in cash and stock.

International Bancshares (IBOC) of Laredo, Texas, reported first-quarter income of $28.3 million, down more than 6% from a year earlier, as the company collected lower fees from interchange and overdraft protection.

The Houston bank's four deals since September would not slow it down if it sees another good M&A opportunity, David Zalman says. Proxy filing details how it courted American State Financial.

Prosperity Bancshares in Houston reported first quarter earnings of $36.5 million, up 7.7% from a year earlier as net interest income increased and already low credit costs fell further.

Texas Capital Bancshares' (TCBI) stock zoomed to an all-time high Thursday after the Dallas company handily beat first-quarter earnings projections and the investment firm Sterne Agee & Leach upgraded its shares from neutral to buy.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR) in San Antonio posted record profits in the first quarter as strong deposit growth and sharply improved asset quality more than offset a declining net interest margin and a dip in fee income.

FVNB Corporation in Victoria, Texas, is expanding into the Austin and San Antonio markets with a deal to acquire the $270 million-asset First State Bank in New Braunfels.

Green Bancorp in Houston is bulking up in the Dallas area with a deal to buy Opportunity Bancshares in Richardson, Texas.

Southside Bancshares in Tyler, Texas, will restate its financial results for 2010 and 2011 to reflect an impairment charge for Federal Home Loan Bank option fees and changes in the fair value of certain securities.

The Federal Reserve has reached a written agreement with Central Bancorp Inc. in Garland, Texas.

A Texas banking company formed two years ago to acquire distressed or failed banks is buying its first healthy bank.

International Bancshares Corp. in Laredo, Texas, reported that its fourth-quarter earnings fell less than 1% from a year earlier, to $27 million, as both income and expenses declined.

The insurance unit of Encore Bancshares Inc. of Houston has acquired Whittington Insurance Agency in League City, Texas.

OmniAmerican Bancorp in Fort Worth, Texas, said Monday that its fourth-quarter earnings nearly quadrupled from the same period in 2010, to $1.2 million, as declines in loan yields were more than offset by an 18% increase in average balances of earning assets.

With numerous attractive institutions and robust growth markets, the state could kickstart a round of traditional deals nationwide. The only problem? Texas bankers also know they're attractive, and the most comely banks aren't interested in low-priced dates.