The holding company for Baton Rouge-based Investar Bank announced this morning plans to acquire BOJ Bancshares and its Jackson, Louisiana-based subsidiary, The Highlands Bank, in a deal worth $22.1 million.
The deal—already approved by both banks’ board of directors but which still needs approval regulators and BOJ’s shareholders—is expected to close in the final quarter of this year, according to an Investar news release. After the deal is done, Investar Holding Corporation says it will rebrand The Highlands Bank’s five branch locations in East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana and West Feliciana parishes.
“Investar is extremely excited to expand in the Baton Rouge market through the acquisition of Highlands Bank,” Investar CEO John D’Angelo says in a statement. “The acquisition of Highlands Bank fits our strategy of expansion through extensions of our existing markets.”
BOJ shareholders will own around 9% of the combined company after the deal closes.
The purchase is the latest move by Investar to buy up smaller banks and bolster its footprint in the region. Today’s announcement comes a month after Investar closed a deal to acquire the Ville Platte company that owns Citizens Bank for $45.8 million, which gave Investar several locations in the Acadiana region.
Investar, which has three branch locations in Baton Rouge and 15 total across south Louisiana, went public in 2014. As of June 30, the bank reports assets of approximately $1.2 billion.
