First Financial entering key university market with latest deal

First Financial Bankshares in Abiline, Texas, has agreed to buy TB&T Bancshares in Bryan, Texas.

The $8 billion-asset First Financial said in a press release Thursday that it will pay $190 million in stock for the $625 million-asset TB&T. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter.

TB&T has five branches in Bryan and College Station, which is the home of Texas A&M University. The bank has $446 million in loans and $538 million in deposits.

“We have courted [TB&T] for a number of years because they are one of the highest-rated banks in Texas, have had steady growth, and have a solid market share in the Bryan/ College Station market,” Scott Dueser, First Financial’s chairman, president and CEO, said in the release.

“This bank is well-managed by a group of bankers who have a long history of serving this market and will continue in their present positions,” Dueser added. “Once this acquisition is complete, we will have banking operations throughout Texas with 78 locations that span from Hereford in the Panhandle to Orange in southeast Texas.”

First Financial was advised by J.P. Morgan Securities and Norton Rose Fulbright. TB&T was advised by Stephens Inc. and Fenimore Key Harrison & Ford.

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