SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Arvest Bank announced Thursday
plans to acquire 29 banking locations from Bank of America.
That includes 15 in Missouri: Aurora, Branson, Branson West, Carthage, Cassville, Forsyth, Joplin, Lebanon, Lockwood, Monett, Mountain Grove, Neosho, Nevada, Shell Knob and West Plains.
Additionally, Arvest Bank says there are nine branches in Arkansas, four in Oklahoma and one in Pittsburg, Kansas.
"Pending regulatory approval,
[we] will convert to new Arvest Bank locations after the first of the
year," says Michael Gandy, Marketing Officer for Arvest Bank, in a
statement. "In some communities, this will be the first Arvest Bank
location they have available to them."
Full News Release from Arvest Bank:
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Arvest Bank announced today it
has entered into an agreement with Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), to purchase twenty-nine branches
and most deposit accounts and loans associated with those locations. The locations
being acquired are all within or close to existing Arvest markets.
The purchase is subject to receiving
regulatory approvals, which are expected in the first quarter of 2013. Under the agreement, Arvest will purchase
certain assets, including eighteen branch locations owned by Bank of America,
most deposit accounts such as checking, savings, IRAs and CDs belonging to
households, small business and Merrill Edge customers who live in the local
area and are conveniently serviced at these locations, as well as lease
obligations for eleven other branch locations.
The transaction does not include credit card, mortgage, brokerage or
trust accounts.
This agreement includes fifteen
branches in Missouri in the following communities: Aurora, Branson, Branson West, Carthage, Cassville, Forsyth, Joplin, Lebanon, Lockwood, Monett, Mountain Grove, Neosho, Nevada, Shell Knob and West Plains.
Additionally, there are nine branches in Arkansas, four in Oklahoma and one in Pittsburg, Kansas.
Rodney Shepard, president of Arvest
Bank in Springfield said, "We are very excited to welcome these Bank of
America customers into the Arvest family. This move demonstrates our commitment
to meet the financial service needs of individuals and companies in local
communities throughout southern and western Missouri. I want to assure all of these Bank
of America customers that we will be working over the next few months to
provide a seamless transition for them. Once the sale has been finalized, we
will be bringing our customer focused style of banking to ten new communities
in Missouri and adding to our existing branch
network in five other communities in the state."
Arvest considers the purchase of
branches and customer relationships within its existing footprint a strong indicator
of the bank's commitment to community banking.
Each of these new locations will join one of Arvest's nearby locally
managed community markets once regulatory approvals are received and the
transition is complete.
Arvest Bank expects many Bank of America
employees to transition to the company and keep their current positions.
Bank of America customers whose
accounts are assigned to these specific branch locations do not need to do
anything at this time. They should continue to use their current Bank of
America checks, debit cards and other products and services until they are contacted
by Bank of America and then subsequently by Arvest after the transaction is
approved.
About Arvest Bank
Arvest Bank operates more than 240
bank branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas through a network of 16 locally
managed banks, each with its own board of directors and management team. These
banks serve customers in 90 communities with 12-hour weekday banking at most
locations. Arvest also provides a wide range of banking services including
loans, deposits, treasury management, asset and wealth management, life
insurance, credit cards, mortgage loans and mortgage servicing. Arvest operates
a mortgage company, asset management company, insurance division and mortgage
servicing company. Arvest is an equal housing lender and member FDIC.
