Business First Bancshares, Inc. (Business First) (NASDAQ: BFST), the holding company for b1BANK, has completed its acquisition of Pedestal Bancshares, Inc. (Pedestal) and its wholly owned bank subsidiary, Pedestal Bank. The acquisition became effective May 1, 2020, in accordance with the terms of the previously announced agreement.
“We are committed to being our regions’ bank of choice, come good times or bad” said Jude Melville, president and CEO of b1BANK. “This merger is a significant step towards that goal. We’re excited about the team growing and look forward to delivering to clients the same level of expertise and service they are accustomed to receiving from their bank, service that we know is particularly meaningful in this period of stress we together find ourselves making our way through.”
With the completion of the acquisition, b1BANK has approximately $4.1 billion in assets, $3.0 billion in loans and $3.3 billion in deposits (estimates include $0.4 billion of loans and deposits associated with the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program). The bank’s locations will increase to 48 full-service banking centers across Louisiana and in the Dallas, Texas area. Mark Folse, the former President and CEO of Pedestal and Pedestal Bank, will relocate to Baton Rouge to join b1BANK’s executive team.
Raymond James & Associates, Inc. acted as financial advisor to Business First and Alston & Bird, LLP acted as legal advisor to Business First. Stephens Inc. acted as financial advisor to Pedestal and Fenimore, Kay, Harrison & Ford, LLP acted as legal advisor to Pedestal.
