Illinois’ First Busey Corp. to expand through Kansas bank merger

Leawood, Kan.-based CrossFirst Bancshares is merging into Champaign, Ill.-based First Busey Corp. in a $916 million stock deal. .Announced Aug. 27, the merger will extend Busey's market presence to Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The combined company will operate under the Busey Bank brand and have $20 billion in assets, $17 billion in deposits and $13 billion in wealth management assets. According to Busey Bank, the merger will also improve its commercial banking relationships while growing both its wealth management and payment technology solutions division, FirsTech, Inc. .Busey Chair and CEO Van Dukeman called the merger "a great fit from a strategic, financial and cultural perspective, and we look forward to capitalizing on the many opportunities we see as a combined company in 2025 and beyond. ."CrossFirst is a natural fit alongside Busey's established commercial and wealth management offerings and our payment technology solutions business, FirsTech, Inc.," he said. "By leveraging CrossFirst's established presence in attractive markets with compelling growth potential, this partnership is expected to serve as a catalyst for additional commercial banking growth as well as expanded opportunities to grow our existing wealth management and payments businesses." .CrossFirst CEO, President and Director Mike Maddox called Busey "the right partner to continue CrossFirst's customer and community focus. Because of our like-minded cultures, our complementary business models and manner in which we operate, we are confident this partnership will create significant benefits for our teams, customers, communities and shareholders." .The merger is expected to close in the first quarter of next year. Following the transaction, Busey shareholders will own 63.5 percent of the combined company, while CrossFirst shareholders will hold 36.5 percent on a fully-diluted basis. .The headquarters of the holding company will move to Leawood. The board of the combined company will include 13 members — eight from Busey Bank or its holding company and five from CrossFirst. .Management of the combined company will include Busey and CrossFirst executives. Dukeman will continue as executive chair and CEO of Busey Corp. and executive chair of Busey Bank. .Maddox will become president and executive vice chair of Busey and CEO of Busey Bank. He is expected to succeed Dukeman as CEO of Busey Corp. on whichever date is earlier between the one-year anniversary of the bank merger or 18-month anniversary of the holding company merger. CrossFirst Bank President Randy Rapp will become president of Busey Bank. . Both banks have been active M&A players. Busey and CrossFirst have undertaken 11 mergers and integrations since 2013. Pro forma calculations project Busey earnings per share accretion of approximately 20 percent in 2026, the first full year of combined operations. Tangible book value per share dilution is expected to be at -0.6 percent, with a forecasted earnback period of six months. .St. Petersburg, Fla.-based investment firm Raymond James & Associates served as financial adviser and provided a fairness opinion to the board of Busey Corp., while New York City-based law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP served as legal adviser to Busey. St. Louis-based investment bank Stifel served as financial adviser and provided a fairness opinion to the board of CrossFirst, and Cleveland-based law firm Squire Patton Boggs US LLP served as legal counsel to CrossFirst.