On August 27, Champaign, Illinois-based First Busey Corp., the holding company for Busey Bank, and Leawood, Kansas-based CrossFirst Bankshares Inc., the holding company for CrossFirst Bank, announced their plan to merge, pursuant to which CrossFirst will merge with and into Busey in an all-common stock transaction valued at approximately $916.8 million, based on Busey’s closing stock price of $27.39 as of August 26, 2024. The combined company, which will operate under the Busey Bank brand, will have approximately $20 billion in total assets, approximately $17 billion in total deposits and approximately $13 billion in wealth management assets under care. With approvals, the parties expect to close the holding company merger in the first or second quarter of 2025.
The merger is expected to create a premier full-service commercial bank serving clients from 77 full-service locations across 10 states, including Texas, with combined total assets of approximately $20 billion, $17 billion in total deposits, $15 billion in total loans and $13 billion in wealth assets under care. Between the two management teams, Busey Bank and CrossFirst Bank have successfully navigated 11 mergers and integrations since 2013.
The partnership will extend Busey Bank’s regional operating model in the high-growth metro markets of Kansas City, Wichita, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver and Phoenix while bolstering its commercial banking relationships and offering additional opportunities to grow its wealth management business and FirsTech, Inc., Busey Bank’s payment technology solutions subsidiary.
“CrossFirst is a natural fit alongside Busey’s established commercial and wealth management offerings and our payment technology solutions business, FirsTech Inc.,” says Van Dukeman, Busey chair and CEO. “By leveraging CrossFirst’s established presence in attractive markets with compelling growth potential, this partnership is expected to serve as a catalyst for additional commercial banking growth, as well as expanded opportunities to grow our existing wealth management and payments businesses.”
It is anticipated that CrossFirst Bank will merge with and into Busey Bank in mid-2025. At the time of the bank merger, CrossFirst Bank locations will become service centers of Busey Bank. Busey Bank’s headquarters will remain in Champaign, Illinois—near where Busey was founded more than 155 years ago. The headquarters of the holding company will move to Leawood, Kansas—at the site of the current CrossFirst headquarters in the Kansas City area.
The board of directors of the combined company will be comprised of 13 members, eight from Busey or Busey Bank and five from CrossFirst, with Van Dukeman serving as executive chair and CEO, Mike Maddox as president and executive vice chair and Rod Brenneman—current independent chair of CrossFirst—as lead independent director.
