Green Bancorp, Patriot Bancshares To Merge

(RTTNews) - Green Bancorp Inc (GNBC) and Patriot Bancshares Inc on Wednesday announced an agreement and plan of merger valued at about $139 million based on the closing price of Green Bancorp common stock on May 26.

As per the terms of the deal, Green Bancorp will issue at the closing about 10.76 million common shares of Green Bancorp to Patriot Bancshares shareholders in exchange for all outstanding Patriot common shares as well as Patriot Bancshares' $10.4 million Series D and Series F preferred stock which will be converted to Patriot common stock in advance of the closing.

In addition, it is expected that Patriot Bancshares' $27.3 million Series B and Series C TARP preferred stock (now held by private shareholders) will be redeemed in connection with the closing.

The deal is expected to generate significant earnings per share accretion from identified cost savings.

The merger will result in a commercial bank specializing in serving small-to-middle market commercial clients in Houston, Dallas and Austin.

Upon completion of the merger, the combined company will have about $3.6 billion in assets, $2.8 billion in gross loans and $3 billion in deposits across 23 locations operating as Green Bank. Patriot Bancshares adds 6 locations in Houston, 2 in Dallas and 1 in Fannin County, Texas, strengthening Green Bancorp's existing presence in the Houston and Dallas metro areas.

The combined company will continue to operate under the Green Bancorp name.

The combined company will be led by Green Bancorp's Manuel Mehos as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Patriot Bancshares Chairman and CEO Don Ellis will be named Vice Chairman of Green Bancorp's board.

Upon closing, Green Bancorp shareholders will own about 71% of the combined company and Patriot Bancshares shareholders will own about 29%.