Union Bank bought by Texas firm : (

[metro]

Tue July 3, 2007
Texas-based company purchases Union Bank
By Don Mecoy
Business Writer

The Texas-based company that owns two Oklahoma banks will buy Union Bank, which operates five branches in the Oklahoma City area.
Olney Bancshares Inc., which owns Rose Rock Bank and InterBank, expects to close the deal within four months pending regulatory approval. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Union Bank will continue under the same name, and President John W. Osborne will continue to lead the operation.

When the transaction closes, Olney will control more than $1 billion in assets in its Oklahoma banks.

Mike Sterkel, president and chief executive officer of Rose Rock Bank, said Olney Bancshares likely will continue its expansion.

"We sure have strong growth objectives,” Sterkel said. "Our owner takes no money out of the bank, so to keep our leverage right we've got to keep growing. We're sure looking at any acquisition opportunity that makes sense.”

Olney Bancshares Chairman Ross McKnight said the deal will expand the company's consumer banking presence in the metro area. Rose Rock Bank's primary focus has been on commercial banking.

"The footprints are very compatible,” McKnight said. "The distribution network that Union Bank adds, along with its strength of staff, will offer an immediate benefit to our customers.”

Olney Bancshares entered Oklahoma in 2005 by purchasing Gold Bank locations in Oklahoma City, El Reno, Kingfisher, Hennessey and Enid and rebranding the properties as Rose Rock Bank. Earlier this year, Olney bought InterBank and its branches in Elk City, Clinton, Hobart and Sayre.

The combined deposits of the three Oklahoma banks that will be owned by Olney Bancshares would have produced the 11th-largest Oklahoma bank, based on the most recent market share by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Union Bank last year controlled nearly 2 percent of Oklahoma City-area deposits, making it the 11th-largest bank in the metro.

Union Bank, which employs 90 people at its branches from south Oklahoma City to Edmond, had about $420 million in assets as of March 30. The company posted a $943,000 profit in the first three months of 2007, slightly less than the $1 million net income achieved in the same period last year.

Although the three banks will remain separate entities, Sterkel said the company hopes to make all the facilities available for customers of any of the three banks.

"We can do all of that without merging all three banks in the same charter,” he said. "We sure hope to do that as soon as we possibly can.”

Olney Bancshares approached MB Financial Inc. about three months to see if the Chicago-based company would be interested in selling Union Bank, Sterkel said. Except for Union Bank, all of MB Financial's assets are in the Chicago area, Sterkel said.

"It would only make sense that they might want to redeploy capital to their marketplace,” he said. "We had our eye on Union Bank for some time because of that.”

[PUGalicious]

Why the sad face?

[metro]

Because I don't want LOCAL businesses owned by out of state interests. It's better for OKLAHOMA's economy when businesses are owned by Oklahomans. The profits stay in state and so forth. I encourage people to use Midfirst or Bank of Oklahoma as they are locally owned and invest alot in the community. Midfirst was a major sponsor of the Hornets. We need businesses like this for future growth, especially if we land the NBA, we need to keep our major businesses locally owned, etc. Most people don't know it but Bank of Oklahoma (BOK) is one of the largest banks in the United States.

[PUGalicious]

Union Bank was already owned by out-of-state interests, MB Financial was a Chicago-based company. This sale brings the ownership closer to home, even if the corporation is Texas-based, the people have close ties to Oklahoma. It's a positive move for the bank.