ST. LOUIS — Now that it has fine-tuned its long-term plans with the sale of 14 rural branches to three competitors, First Bank may be back on the hunt for acquisitions.
"We may look at other markets to grow through acquisitions," Michael Dierberg, chairman of FB Corp., First Bank's holding company, told the Business Journal. "Over time, we will get back in the acquisition game."
Possible markets for acquisitions include Kansas City and Omaha, where First Bank has loan production offices, Dierberg said.
The bank, owned by the Dierberg family, is selling two Illinois branches in Granite City and Jerseyville to Royal Banks of Missouri, five Illinois branches in Columbia, Red Bud, Chester, Waterloo and Breese to Dieterich Bank, and seven Missouri branches in Warrentown, Dutzow, Washington, Gerald, Owensville, Hermann and St. Genevieve to First State Community Bank. Terms were not disclosed.
No additional branch sales are planned, Dierberg said
"Banks that will be winners in the future will have a very clear strategy," said Shelley Seifert, chairman and CEO of First Banks. "The decision to sell these branches was strictly strategic — we don't have a rural strategy."
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