On May 3, Lubbock-based Peoples Bancorp Inc., the parent company of Peoples Bank, announced the successful closing of the previously announced acquisition of Seymour-based Baylor Bancshares Inc., the parent company of the First Bank & Trust. The merger agreement was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both bank holding companies and their subsidiary banks and completed in accordance with the terms of the previously announced agreement on April 30, 2021.

“We would like to welcome all of our new family members of First Bank & Trust,” says Larry C. Allen, chairman and CEO of Peoples Bancorp Inc. and Peoples Bank. “Our company is deeply committed to these stakeholders and this transaction will serve only to strengthen our ties and commitments. We look forward to further promoting the Peoples Bank brand of banking in these communities. We will begin moving toward offering First Bank & Trust customers more banking solutions in the future. We intend to convert the First Bank & Trust accounts to the Peoples Bank core processing system in the fourth quarter of 2021, completing the joining of the two entities.”

With this merger, Peoples Bancorp Inc. expands its presence into the North Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and Central Texas regions with locations in Seymour, Princeton and Whitney. These locations add to Peoples Bank’s nine existing locations in Nazareth, Lubbock, Slaton, Lorenzo, Post, Shallowater and Seminole. The combined company has approximately $850 million in assets as a result of the transaction.