Home BancShares, Inc. Beefs Up Marine Business Through Loan Portfolio Acquisition

CONWAY, Ark., Feb. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Home BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOMB) (“Home” or the “Company”), parent company of Centennial Bank, (“Centennial”), today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire LH-Finance, the marine lending division of Bridgeport, Connecticut based People’s United Bank, N.A. (“People’s United”). LH-Finance, which was acquired by People’s United as part of its recent acquisition of United Financial Bancorp, the holding company for United Bank, provides retail financing to end customers and wholesale financing to boat dealers. Under the terms of the agreement, Centennial Bank will acquire approximately $405 million in LH-Finance loan balances from People’s United. 

Upon completion of the acquisition, this portfolio of loans will be housed within Centennial’s Shore Premier Finance division (“Shore”). Shore is a $517 million specialized marine lending division of Centennial Bank with a national platform for floor plan and retail loans. Shore will be responsible for servicing the acquired loan portfolio and originating new loan production.

“We have just returned from the Miami boat show, working with our Shore Premier Finance team,” said John Allison, Home’s Chairman, CEO and President. “The excitement and enthusiasm from manufacturers and dealers is very contagious. Looks like perfect timing for HOMB.”

“The consolidation of LH-Finance into Shore Premier Finance is a natural evolution of two marine finance specialty teams that share common roots,” added Shore Premier Finance President John Marshall. “Further, this is an exciting opportunity to leverage scale and our unique business model to provide even greater service to our manufacturer, wholesale dealer, and retail customers.”

The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020 and is subject to certain customary closing conditions set forth in the purchase agreement. In connection with this acquisition, Centennial has notified the Arkansas State Bank Department of its plans to establish a new loan production office in Baltimore, Maryland. 

General

Home BancShares, Inc. is a bank holding company, headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Centennial Bank, provides a broad range of commercial and retail banking plus related financial services to businesses, real estate developers, investors, individuals and municipalities. Centennial Bank has branch locations in Arkansas, Florida, South Alabama and New York City. The Company’s common stock is traded through the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “HOMB.”