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The Metroplex has seen a rush of mergers and acquisitions as dealmaking activity picks back up. Below, check out details on three of the latest deals to be announced in North Texas.
Dallas-based Oakwood Bank, once known as the "smallest bank in the U.S.," is being purchased for $85.7 million by a Louisiana-based bank in an all-stock deal.
The deal, announced on April 25, will see Baton Rouge-based Business First Bancshares Inc., the parent of B1Bank, acquire Oakwood Bancshares Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, Oakwood shareholders will receive 0.5112 shares of Business First stock for each share of Oakwood. The deal's valuation is based on Business First's closing price of $21.57 per share on April 22.
Business First expects the deal to close during the fourth quarter.
Once completed, B1Bank will have approximately $7.4 billion in assets and a loan portfolio totaling more than $5.6 billion. Oakwood Bank had $843 million in assets and $732 million in deposits at the end of December. The bank employed 75 at the time.
B1Bank would add four branches in Dallas and one apiece in the small Texas towns of Oakwood and Snyder as a result of the acquisition. The percentage of Texas loans in its portfolio would increase from 37.1% to 44.4% while its percentage of Texas deposits would grow from 19.3% to 30.6%.
Oakwood's history dates back to 1900 when it was founded as Oakwood State Bank in the small east Texas town of the same name. It had just the one location for decades — as recently as 2017, the bank had two employees and 600 checking accounts. That year, it was acquired by a holding company led by Roy Salley.
Salley, Oakwood's CEO, president and chairman, previously chartered and capitalized two banks. He formed First Mercantile Bank in 1998 and built it up before it got acquired by Alabama's Colonial Bank in 2002. He also led the group in 2003 that started Sovereign Bank, which was later acquired by Veritex Community Bank.
Under Salley's leadership, Oakwood moved its headquarters to Dallas and began opening branches. In 2020, Oakwood acquired Community Bank of Snyder.
The deal "will accelerate our ability to grow within the Dallas market and creates an exciting opportunity for our shareholders and employees," Salley said in a statement.
Salley will join B1Bank as regional chairman of Dallas once the deal closes. William G. Hall, chairman of Oakwood Bancshares, will also join the boards of both Business First and B1Bank.
PX Technology, a Plano-based health care software company, has been acquired by CareMetx LLC
Maryland-based CareMetx — which is described on its website as a "technology-enabled hub services platform facilitating patient access to specialty medications" — announced the acquisition on April 18. Financial terms were not disclosed. But CareMetx leaders framed the deal as a way to "reshape the landscape of specialty medication access and transform patient care with the fusion of its comprehensive patient support services with PX Technology’s innovative digital access technologies and network," according to the announcement.
PX Technology was founded in 2019.
The two companies were already working together, with a focus on helping patients access specialty therapies. Now, both sides are celebrating what CareMetx President and CEO Jim Rowe in a statement called "a significant leap forward in CareMetx’s mission to dismantle the barriers that stand between patients and the essential therapies they need."
Encore Wire Corp. is set to be taken private in deal valuing it at more than $4 billion.
The McKinney-based wire and cable manufacturer announced April 15 that it has agreed to an acquisition by Prysmian SpA for $290 per share in cash. The announcement noted that was a 20% premium compared with its 30-day volume weighted average share price prior to the deal being announced.
The announcement noted Encore (Nasdaq: WIRE) plans to "maintain a significant presence" at its McKinney campus. The announcement said the deal gave the company a value of about €3.9 billion, or close to $4.15 billion.
Prysmian (BIT: PRY) is an Italy-based cables maker with annual revenue of about $16.65 billion.
