Lafayette bank likes Beacon’s ties to oil industry: Regional banker MidSouth Bancorp has agreed to buy the Tyler, Texas, branch of Beacon Federal Bancorp for an undisclosed price. Lafayette-based MidSouth says it wants to enter the Tyler market because of its ties with the oil field service industry. MidSouth says it will purchase about $26 million in loans and assume about $77 million in deposits. MidSouth has 39 banking offices in Louisiana and Texas and recently entered the Dallas-Fort Worth market. Beacon Federal Bancorp also has offices in New York, Massachusetts and Tennessee.
The senator’s Buddy: U.S. Sen. David Vitter is backing Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s re-election bid. In an e-mail to supporters, Vitter says he’s endorsing Caldwell because he’s a leader who stood against the president’s healthcare reform plan and backs laws against illegal immigration. “Thanks to Buddy Caldwell, Louisiana’s a safer and a better place to work and raise our families,” Vitter says. Caldwell recently switched from the Democratic to Republican party. Former U.S. Rep. Joseph Cao, a fellow Republican, has announced plans to run for the attorney general’s post.
