Fed Approves Mercantile's Roosevelt Deal

The Federal Reserve Board gave Mercantile Bancorp. permission Wednesday to acquire Roosevelt Financial Group provided branches in six Missouri markets are divested.

The St. Louis-based banking company must complete the branch sales within 180 days of the merger or transfer control of the facilities to an independent trustee.

The Fed rejected Community Reinvestment Act protests, noting that Mercantile's lead bank had gotten an "outstanding" score on its most recent CRA exam. Both of Roosevelt's banks have "satisfactory" CRA grades.

Roosevelt shareholders are expected to approve the merger June 20. Mercantile expects to close the $1.07 billion deal in the third quarter, according to a spokeswoman. The combined companies will have $18.1 billion of assets.

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