Justice Department Requires Divestitures in BancorpSouth Bank’s Merger with Cadence Bank | OPA

The Department of Justice announced today that BancorpSouth Bank and Cadence Bank have agreed to sell seven branches in northeastern Mississippi, with more than $446 million in deposits, to resolve antitrust concerns arising from BancorpSouth’s planned acquisition of Cadence Bank.

“Today’s settlement underscores that all Americans, including those in rural communities and small towns, are entitled to access competitively priced banking products and services close to where they live and work,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard A. Powers of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Banks are the anchors of many communities. Families and small businesses rely on banks to keep their money safe and obtain credit for important expenses and investments in their lives.”

Under the agreement with the department, the parties will divest seven branches located in Aberdeen, West Point, and Starkville, Mississippi. The assets that must be divested include all the deposits and loans associated with the seven branches, as well as all physical assets. The companies also have agreed to suspend existing non-compete agreements with branch managers and loan officers located in Aberdeen, West Point, and Starkville, Mississippi and will not enter into new non-compete agreements with those managers and officers. Further, the companies have agreed that any branches located in any of these markets that are closed within three years of the merger’s closing will be sold or leased to an insured depository institution that offers deposit and credit services to small businesses. As a result of the merger, BancorpSouth will become the 10th largest bank, based on assets, in its nine-state region in the southeastern United States and the 46th largest bank in the country.  

The proposed merger is subject to the final approval of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The department’s role when reviewing a proposed bank merger necessarily focuses on the merger’s competitive effects. Here, the department has advised the FDIC that the department will not challenge the merger provided that the parties divest branches in certain areas of overlap and agree to the commitments described above. The parties’ commitments to the department will be included as a condition that the parties’ make to the FDIC’s order allowing this transaction.

BancorpSouth Bank, headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, has approximately $25.8 billion in assets, $21.2 billion in deposits and 325 full-service branches across nine states in the southeastern United States. It provides a wide range of banking and other financial services to consumers, businesses, agricultural customers and wealth management customers.

Cadence Bank N.A., headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, has approximately $18.8 billion in assets and $16.1 billion in deposits. Cadence Bank has 98 branches across the southeastern U.S. with 11 of those branches in Mississippi. Cadence also offers a full range of products and services to retail, small business and middle market customers as well as investment and trust services. 

A list of the branches to be divested is below.