BancorpSouth of Tupelo, Miss., has a deal to acquire Merchants Capital Corp. of Vicksburg for $63 million of stock-3.3 times book value.
Merchants has $222 million of assets and six branches in the Magnolia State. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter.
"Merchants Bank is a bulwark of the Vicksburg business community," said Aubrey B. Patterson, chairman and chief executive officer of -based BancorpSouth. "Like us they have strong ties to the state and local economy, and they will bring great strength to our company."
BancorpSouth, which has $4.4 billion of assets, operates 134 branches in Mississippi and Tennessee.