ST. LOUIS -- Mercantile Bancorp. has agreed to acquire First Federal Savings Bank of Iowa in a cash and stock deal valued at $64 million.
The Davenport-based thrift is Iowa's second largest, with the bulk of its $428 million of assets in the state. The deal will nearly double Mercantile's presence in Iowa -- to about $790 million of assets.
Mercantile, with total assets of $12.2 billion, will pay cash and 1.4 million of its common shares to shareholders of Plains Spirit Financial Corp., First Federal's parent company.
The deal will also give St. Louis-based Mercantile four branches in the Quad Cities area -- which embraces Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa and Rock Island and Moline in Illinois. Mercantile will also receive First Federal's branch in Muscatine, Iowa, about 30 miles south of the Quad Cities. The deal is subject to the approval of Plains Spirit shareholders and regulators.
