BancorpSouth Insurance Services, Inc. to acquire assets of Lafayette, Louisiana based Knox Insurance Group, LLC

TUPELO, Miss., April 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE: BXS) announced today that BancorpSouth Insurance Services, Inc. ("BXSI"), a subsidiary of BancorpSouth Bank, headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Lafayette, Louisiana-based Knox Insurance Group, LLC ("Knox").  The transaction is expected to close immediately.  Financial terms of the pending transaction were not disclosed.

"The Knox acquisition gives us an opportunity to meaningfully expand our market share in Southwest Louisiana," commented Dan Rollins, CEO of BancorpSouth.  "Knox has a strong track record of revenue growth as well as a number of large commercial relationships adding significant value to our current book of business."

Knox was formed in 1972 and currently produces annual revenues of approximately $3 million.  For the past 15 years, Knox operated under the leadership of current owners/brokers Dwayne David and Randall Bonaventure.  Knox will continue to operate under their leadership in its current location at 2014 West Pinhook Road #610 in Lafayette.  Knox has a diverse client base including agricultural processing, construction, energy, manufacturing, marine, medical, and transportation.  Product specialties include, but are not limited to, workers compensation, business auto, property and casualty, and general/umbrella liability.

Markham McKnight, President of BXSI, added, "We are excited about the opportunity to add Dwayne, Randall and their team to our existing agency platform.  They operate a very customer-focused model similar to that of our agency and we are impressed by the book of business that they have been able to build.  We are able to equip them with new product and service offerings  benefiting both current and potential customers."

David commented, "We are delighted to join forces with BancorpSouth, an organization that has a tremendous amount of respect in our industry.  The additional products and services that a company of this scale can provide will be an asset to both Randall and myself, as producers, and to our customer base."  Bonaventure added, "I am thrilled about the possibilities that this new relationship provides.  I am confident that the additional resources that will be at our disposal will even better position us to build on the success that we have had and the momentum that we have built over the last several years."

BXSI ranks as the nation's 33^rd largest insurance firm based on the latest rankings available for top insurance brokerage firms in America by Business Insurance.  BXSI currently operates 29 offices, with over 500 associates serving clients across the country.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release may not be based on historical facts and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.  These forward-looking statements may be identified by their reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "may," "might," "will," "would," "could" or "intend."  These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to closing the acquisition of Knox, Knox's continued operations and the impact of the acquisition on the Company's market presence.  

We caution you not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release in that actual results could differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors.  These factors  include, but are not limited to, conditions in the financial markets and economic conditions generally, the adequacy of the Company's provision and allowance for credit losses to cover actual credit losses, the credit risk associated with real estate construction, acquisition and development loans, losses resulting from the significant amount of the Company's other real estate owned, limitations on the Company's ability to declare and pay dividends, the impact of legal or administrative proceedings, the availability of capital on favorable terms if and when needed, liquidity risk, governmental regulation and supervision of the Company's operations, the short-term and long-term impact of changes to banking capital standards on the Company's regulatory capital and liquidity, the impact of regulations on service charges on the Company's core deposit accounts, the susceptibility of the Company's business to local economic or environmental conditions, the soundness of other financial institutions, changes in interest rates, the impact of monetary policies and economic factors on the Company's ability to attract deposits or make loans, volatility in capital and credit markets, reputational risk, the impact of hurricanes or other adverse weather events, any requirement that the Company write down goodwill or other intangible assets, diversification in the types of financial services the Company offers, the Company's ability to adapt its products and services to evolving industry standards and consumer preferences, competition with other financial services companies, risks in connection with completed or potential acquisitions, the Company's growth strategy, interruptions or breaches in the Company's information system security, the failure of certain third party vendors to perform, unfavorable ratings by rating agencies, dilution caused by the Company's issuance of additional shares of its common stock to raise capital or acquire other banks, bank holding companies, financial holding companies and insurance agencies, other factors generally understood to affect the financial condition or results of financial services companies and other factors detailed from time to time in the Company's press releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  We undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this news release.   

SOURCE BancorpSouth, Inc.