Home Bancshares in Arkansas Buying 17 Vision Bank Branches

Home BancShares Inc. in Conway, Ark., has agreed to buy 17 branches in a purchase-and-assumption agreement with Park National Corp. in Newark, Ohio.

The $3.7 billion-asset Home BancShares said late Wednesday that its Centennial Bank will buy Vision Bank branches located along the Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle. The transaction, valued at $27.9 million and expected to close in early 2012, marks the buyer's entry into Alabama.

For Park National, the sale should add roughly 100 basis points to its capital ratios, after the company records a pretax gain of $10 million to $12 million. The $7.3 billion-asset company will part with "substantially all" of the assets and liabilities associated with Vision Bank, including $378.6 million in performing loans and $535 million in deposits.

Park National will keep the remaining performing loans, all nonperforming loans and other real estate owned, moving them to SE Property Holdings LLC, a nonbank subsidiary.

Vision Bank has labored with credit problems from defaults on real estate loans. Its noncurrent loans were almost 21% at June 30, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Last month Park National said that it had found weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting related to a third-party contractor.

Park National shares were trading at $60.20 by midday Thursday, up more than 3% from Wednesday's closing.

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