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CrossFirst Bankshares Inc. Merges with Illinois Bank for $917M

CrossFirst Bank will merge with Illinois-based First Busey Corporation to form a combined company with about $20 billion in total assets.

Posted August 27, 2024

Leawood-based CrossFirst Bankshares Inc. will merge with Illinois-based First Busey Corporation in an all-stock deal valued at around $917 million.

The two banks jointly announced that both parties had signed a definitive agreement, which will have CrossFirst merge into Busey Bank, according to a release Tuesday. The deal is an all-common stock transaction valued at approximately $916.8 million, based on Busey’s closing stock price of $27.39 on Monday.

CrossFirst shareholders received 0.6675 shares of Busey common stock for each share held of CrossFirst common stock. Upon completion of the transaction, Busey’s shareholders will own approximately 63.5% of the combined company and CrossFirst’s shareholders will own about 36.5%. Additionally, the company will continue to trade under the “BUSE” ticker.

The merged company working with roughly $20 billion in total assets, $17 billion in total deposits and $13 billion in wealth management assets under care.

Busey Bank’s headquarters will remain in Champaign, Illinois and the headquarters of the holding company will move to Leawood, Kansas. The holding company will operate under the First Busey Corporation name and the combined bank will operate under the Busey Bank name.

“Founded on the ideals of extraordinary, personal service provided by outstanding, local bankers, our dedicated associates at CrossFirst have built strong, trusting relationships with our clients and the markets we serve,” CrossFirst CEO Mike Maddox said in the release. “We believe Busey is the right partner to continue CrossFirst’s customer- and community-focus.”

The combined company will have a board comprised of 13 members, eight from Busey or Busey Bank and five from CrossFirst.

Busey Chairman and CEO Van Dukeman will serve as executive chairman and CEO, Maddox will become the president and vice executive chairman and Rod Brenneman, the current independent chairman of the board of CrossFirst, will move to lead independent director.

The banks anticipate the merger to be completed by mid-2025, according to the release.