Bank of the Ozarks Inc. in Little Rock has abandoned its bid to establish a branch in Jacksonville, Ark., ending a more than two-year standoff with a community bank there.
The company said Friday that it has instead agreed to sell a parcel on which it was planning to build a branch to the $500 million-asset First Arkansas Bank and Trust in Jacksonville.
Bank of the Ozarks had applied in December 2004 to build a branch in Jacksonville, but First Arkansas protested the plan, arguing that the town could not support another bank branch. Jacksonville has about 30,000 residents and 12 bank branches, according to census and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.
Despite the protest, the Arkansas State Bank Department approved the application in May 2005. In June that year, First Arkansas filed suit in Pulaski County court, asking that the bank commissioner’s decision be reversed. Bank of the Ozarks’ decision to sell its parcel to First Arkansas also settles the lawsuit.
The $2.5 billion-asset Bank of the Ozarks has agreed not to open a branch within the present city limits of Jacksonville “now or in the future,” according to a press release.
Bank of the Ozarks said it would recognize a gain of about $17,000 on the land sale and $500,000 of noninterest income related to settling the contested branch application.
