 |
| For Online Banking, Bill Pay, and Credit Card Access Click here |
| Financial Freedom 24 Hour Telephone Banking 504-240-5200 or 1-800-883-3943 |
|
|
|
About Liberty Bank:
News |
|
|
Bank's Liberty merger gets OK
- First American shareholders vote to back plan
Shareholders of First American Bank, the state's only minority-owned bank, overwhelmingly approved on Wednesday plans to merge with Liberty Bank & Trust Co. of New Orleans.
Proposed Changes
Customers of First American Bank can expect additional services after the merger with Liberty Bank & Trust Co. of New Orleans.
The bank plans to:
- Open another branch in the metro area.
- Offer online banking and telephone banking.
- Increase the number of automatic teller machines.
Seventy-eight percent of shareholders approved the merger plans with Liberty Bank, one of the 10 largest African-American-owned commercial banks in America, said Mary Ann Franklin, president and chief executive officer of First American.
Under the agreement, Liberty Financial Services will pay about 150 percent of book value in cash for outstanding shares of First American common stock. Book value will be determined by an audit of the bank's financial statement, and its shareholders will receive between $3 and $3.30 per share.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the state of Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions still have to approve the merger, and that could take anywhere from 60 days to six months, said Alden J. McDonald Jr., chief executive officer and president of Liberty Financial Services and Liberty Bank. The Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance has already approved the merger, he said.
Liberty Bank, which has assets significantly larger than those of First American, will offer services that First American could not, McDonald said.
Liberty Bank has about $230 million total assets with 10 branches and 22 ATMs in New Orleans and Baton Rouge compared to First American's assets of about $20 million and a headquarters in downtown Jackson with 14 employees.
"With our resources, Liberty will bring a full line of deposit and loan products - business, mortgage and consumer - as well as Internet banking, check imaging, ATMs and the benefit of over 30 years of economic development community service," he said.
Liberty will give First American customers access to some of the latest technology in banking, including online banking and telephone banking around the clock, McDonald said.
"We'll be able to make larger loans to customers of First American," he said. "Our loan limit is significantly higher than what they were able to do."
There's also a possibility that the First American name might not change, McDonald said.
"We're going to check around the community and see what they'd like," he said. "It's not written in stone there will be a name change. This community has a lot of pride. The board has worked very hard for the First American name."
The current First American board will remain in place to oversee the Mississippi operations, McDonald said.
Ollye Shirley of Jackson, chairman of the First American Board of Directors, is optimistic about the merger.
"What Liberty says is, it'll still feel like First American but with greater services and a broader reach," said Shirley, who operates an educational consulting firm."
Howard Catchings of Jackson, one of the founders and a board member of First American, said he's impressed by Liberty.
"I put 10 years in First American, and I realized it's not all going to go down the drain," said Catchings, owner of TransAmerica/Catchings Insurance Agency. "First American will still be a minority bank. I think we did a wonderful job in finding someone to take the bank over and we ended up giving investors some of their investment back. Now I can walk around the neighborhood with my head in the air."
|
|
