First Bank of Mo. Acquires Adrian N. Baker & Co.

April 7, 2006

First Bank, a Mo. state chartered bank and wholly owned subsidiary of First Banks, Inc. headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., and Adrian N. Baker & Company, a Del.corporation, jointly announced the signing of a Stock Purchase Agreement on March 30, 2006 that provided for First Bank to acquire Adrian Baker on March 31, 2006.

Adrian Baker is a privately owned independent insurance brokerage company based in Clayton, Mo. that provides a comprehensive range of employee benefits, commercial and personal insurance services. Adrian Baker has been in business for over 65 years and services multiple clients on a nationwide basis, according to the news release issued.

Terrance M. McCarthy, senior executive vice president and CEO of First Banks, said, “First Banks’ affiliation with Adrian Baker provides a significant opportunity to enter this highly-specialized financial services arena with a partner that has established a long and proven history within the insurance industry. Adrian Baker offers its customers personalized service and innovative solutions to appropriately accommodate their specific insurance needs and requirements.”

“Adrian Baker is one of the largest and most respected privately held insurance agencies in the Midwest and has solid relationships with many of the best insurance companies. Our partnership with Adrian Baker is an exciting opportunity for First Bank to establish an infrastructure designed for future growth in all lines of insurance and employee benefits. This is consistent with our overall corporate objectives which include diversifying our products and services and growing non-interest income,” said Steven F. Schepman, senior vice president and CFO of First Banks.

Schepman added, “Adrian Baker will operate as a separate subsidiary of First Bank through its existing qualified and experienced team of professionals.”

Adrian N. Baker II, president of Adrian Baker, had the following comments. “First Bank is the perfect fit for our firm to affiliate with. There is a tremendous amount of consolidation in the financial service industry and it has spread rapidly to encompass the banking industry’s entry into the insurance brokerage business. We have been in discussions for well over a year and our firms are very similar in that they both have evolved over several generations from family ownership into much larger companies with the ability to service customers with a national and international presence. We are looking forward to bringing enhanced capabilities to both organizations’ clientele, so we can better service their needs.”

Under the terms of the agreement, First Bank will acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Adrian Baker. The transaction closed on March 31, 2006.

At December 31, 2005, First Banks reported assets of $9.17 billion, loans, net of unearned discount, of $7.02 billion, deposits of $7.54 billion and stockholders’ equity of $678.9 million. First Banks currently offers a menu of consumer and commercial loan and deposit product lines in addition to other financial services, including telephone and internet banking, debit cards, mortgage banking, small business lending, brokerage services, trust, private banking and institutional money management services. First Banks operates 178 branch banking offices in California, Illinois, Missouri and Texas.

Source: First Banks, Adrian Baker

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Missouri

Was this article valuable?

Here are more articles you may enjoy.