BancorpSouth Receives Regulatory Approval of its Mergers with Dallas, Texas-based Casey Bancorp, Inc. and Jackson, Alabama-based Merchants Trust, Inc.

TUPELO, Miss., March 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BancorpSouth Bank (NYSE: BXS) announced it has received regulatory approvals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to complete its proposed mergers with Casey Bancorp, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Grand Bank of Texas (collectively referred to as "Grand Bank"), and with Merchants Trust, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Merchants Bank (collectively referred to as "Merchants Bank").

The mergers, originally announced on November 13, 2018, are anticipated to close on April 1, 2019, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.  Upon completion of these two mergers, BancorpSouth's assets will be approximately $18.6 billion.

Grand Bank

"We're excited about receiving regulatory approval for our merger with Grand Bank," said Dan Rollins, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BancorpSouth Bank. "Its leadership team has done an outstanding job growing the bank, and our combined footprint positions us to be highly competitive in these markets - especially the thriving Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex."

Michael T. Casey, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Grand Bank, added, "We are pleased to be joining a bank that shares our deep commitment to customer service and community values. Through this partnership, we'll be well-positioned to take what we've built over the last 43 years to a higher level."

Upon completion of the merger, Casey will serve as BancorpSouth Bank's Dallas Area Chairman.

Merchants Bank

"We're thrilled about the upcoming addition of Merchants Bank to the BancorpSouth family," said Dan Rollins, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BancorpSouth Bank. "The combination of our banks will create an even stronger banking franchise to serve customers in Clarke and Mobile counties in Alabama."

Joe L. Bedwell, Chief Executive Officer of Merchants Bank, added, "BancorpSouth's broad range of products and services, as well as its locations across eight states, will expand our ability to assist customers with their financial needs, allowing us to continue to deliver exceptional service to our customers."

Upon completion of the merger, Bedwell will serve as BancorpSouth's Clarke County Chairman, and Jim Reid, President and Chief Financial Officer of Merchants Bank, will serve as BancorpSouth's Clarke County President.

About BancorpSouth Bank

BancorpSouth Bank (NYSE: BXS) is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, with approximately $18 billion in assets.  BancorpSouth operates approximately 285 full service branch locations as well as additional mortgage, insurance, and loan production offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, including an insurance location in Illinois.  BancorpSouth is committed to a culture of respect, diversity, and inclusion in both its workplace and communities. To learn more, visit our Community Commitment page at www.bancorpsouth.com; "Like" us on Facebook; follow us on Twitter@MyBXS; or connect with us through LinkedIn.

About Grand Bank

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Grand Bank is a locally-owned and operated independent community bank with approximately $350 million in assets and four full-service locations in the Grand Prairie and the Dallas/Fort Worth area and in the Texas Hill Country in both Marble Falls and Horseshoe Bay. For more information, visit www.grandbankoftexas.com.

About Merchants Bank

Merchants Bank, based in Jackson, Alabama, is a locally owned institution serving the people of Clarke, Washington, Mobile and surrounding counties. It has approximately $220 million in assets and five locations across southwest Alabama. For more information, visit www.merchantsbk.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release may not be based upon 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 and/or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "continue," "seek," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "foresee," "hope," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "should," "predict," "project," "goal," "outlook," "potential," "will," "will result," "will likely result," or "would" or future or conditional verb tenses and variations or negatives of such terms. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, those relating to the terms, timing and closing of the proposed mergers with Grand Bank and Merchants Bank, the benefits and synergies expected from the proposed mergers with Grand Bank and Merchants Bank, and the ability of BancorpSouth Bank to close the proposed mergers with Grand Bank and Merchants Bank in a timely manner or at all.

BancorpSouth Bank cautions readers 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, many of which are beyond the control of BancorpSouth Bank. These factors may include, but are not limited to, the ability of BancorpSouth Bank to close the proposed mergers with Grand Bank and Merchants Bank, the ability of each of BancorpSouth Bank, Grand Bank, and Merchants Bank to satisfy the conditions to the closings of the proposed mergers, failure to obtain approval of the proposed merger from Grand Bank's shareholders, the ability of BancorpSouth Bank to meet expectations regarding the timing, completion and accounting and tax treatments of the proposed mergers with Grand Bank and Merchants Bank, the potential impact upon BancorpSouth Bank of any delay in the closing of the proposed merges, the possibility that any of the anticipated benefits and synergies of the proposed mergers with Grand Bank and Merchants Bank will not be realized or will not be realized as expected, the acceptance by customers of Grand Bank or Merchants Bank of BancorpSouth Bank's products and services if the proposed mergers close, the failure of the proposed mergers with Grand Bank and Merchants Bank to close for any other reason, the effect of the announcement of the proposed mergers on BancorpSouth Bank's operating results, the possibility that the proposed mergers may be more expensive or time consuming to complete than anticipated, including as a result of unexpected factors or events and the impact of all other factors generally understood to affect the assets, business, cash flows, financial condition, liquidity, prospects and/or results of operations of financial services companies and other factors that were previously detailed from time to time in BancorpSouth Bank's press and news releases, periodic and current reports and other filings with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.  Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made, and, except as required by applicable law, BancorpSouth Bank does not undertake any obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this news release.

SOURCE BancorpSouth Bank