Century deal in state not in cards
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/234752/
Truman Arnold never seriously considered selling his 13-year-old, $ 1. 5 billion Century Bancshares Inc. to an Arkansas bank, the Texarkana, Texas, businessman said Monday.
Arnold’s family owns about 60 percent of Century Bank, which announced on Thursday it has agreed to be sold to Wells Fargo & Co. of Minneapolis. Arnold acquired New Boston Bancshares, which owned First National Bank of New Boston, Texas, in 1995 and changed its name to Century Bancshares.
Terms of the stock purchase weren’t disclosed.
Wells Fargo, one of the largest banks in the country with $ 609 billion in assets, approached Century Bank about making the purchase, so there was no attempt to sell to an Arkansas bank, Arnold said.
“And we like their currency and their people,” said Arnold, meaning that Wells Fargo’s stock has performed well in the country’s declining economy. “It is about as good as it gets in the financial world. They like to do business in small markets, so they liked the Texarkana part of it.”
Century Bank has three branches in Texarkana, Ark., and one in Ashdown. With the purchase, Wells Fargo will make its first banking entrance into Arkansas.
Wells Fargo’s attraction to Century Bank was the 11 branches Century Bank has in the north Dallas market.
“We are in Dallas already,” Arnold said from his office in Dallas. “They found that we had locations in an area that they were interested in developing. That fit hand in glove with where they wanted to be.”
Randy Dennis, president of DD&F Consulting Group in Little Rock, a bank consulting company, said it was surprising that Wells Fargo would acquire Century Bank, simply because Wells Fargo is so large and Century Bank is relatively small.
“But Truman has built a substantial presence in Dallas,” Dennis said.
Century Bank has grown from about $ 95 million in assets in 1995 to about $ 1. 5 billion in assets now, said Arnold, 70.
Arnold and two Arkansas bankers — John Allison, chairman of Home BancShares Inc. in Conway and Wallace Fowler, chairman of Liberty Bancshares Inc. of Jonesboro — have been good friends for years, Arnold said. The three served on the board of directors of First Commercial Corp. before it sold to Regions Financial Corp. in 1998.
About seven years ago, Arnold, Allison and Fowler floated the idea of merging their three banks into one large bank that would cover much of Arkansas. The idea never materialized.
Arnold said he isn’t planning to start another bank in the near future. He has signed a noncompete clause with Wells Fargo that would prevent him from entering banking in the near future.
“I asked them if I could invest with Johnny Allison,” Arnold said, laughing. “They obviously don’t know Johnny. They said, ‘Well as long as it’s not in Texarkana, it’s OK.’”