House Appropriations Committee advanced a budget similar to governor’s; uses federal COVID-19 to cover $1 billion gap
May 21, 2020
Joan Blanchard
May 22, 2020
Business First Bancshares, Inc. (Business First) (NASDAQ: BFST), the holding company for b1BANK, has completed its acquisition of Pedestal Bancshares, Inc. (Pedestal) and its wholly owned bank subsidiary, Pedestal Bank. The acquisition became effective May 1, 2020, in accordance with the terms of the previously announced agreement.
“We are committed to being our regions’ bank of choice, come good times or bad” said Jude Melville, president and CEO of b1BANK. “This merger is a significant step towards that goal. We’re excited about the team growing and look forward to delivering to clients the same level of expertise and service they are accustomed to receiving from their bank, service that we know is particularly meaningful in this period of stress we together find ourselves making our way through.”
With the completion of the acquisition, b1BANK has approximately $4.1 billion in assets, $3.0 billion in loans and $3.3 billion in deposits (estimates include $0.4 billion of loans and deposits associated with the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program). The bank’s locations will increase to 48 full-service banking centers across Louisiana and in the Dallas, Texas area. Mark Folse, the former President and CEO of Pedestal and Pedestal Bank, will relocate to Baton Rouge to join b1BANK’s executive team.
Raymond James & Associates, Inc. acted as financial advisor to Business First and Alston & Bird, LLP acted as legal advisor to Business First. Stephens Inc. acted as financial advisor to Pedestal and Fenimore, Kay, Harrison & Ford, LLP acted as legal advisor to Pedestal.
Important conversion details for current Pedestal Bank customers:
May 20 – Bill Pay services will be unavailable beginning Wednesday, May 20, at 3:00 PM CST and will be restored on Tuesday, May 26 at 9:00 AM CST.
May 21 – REMINDER: ACH Origination will be unavailable after 4 p.m. May 21, for files with an effective date after May 22, 2020. Service will be restored Tuesday, May 26 at 9:00 a.m. CST.
May 22 – Beginning Friday, May 22 at 5:00 PM CST, Pedestal and b1BANK systems will be integrated. Please note that Pedestal Online Banking systems will be unavailable from 3:00 PM CST until 9:00 AM CST on Monday. b1BANK locations normally open on Saturday will be closed May 23.
May 26 – All of our banking centers will open as b1BANK on Tuesday, May 26. At this time you will gain access to the full range of products and services offered by b1BANK.
