American State Bancshares of Great Bend announced today that it intends to combine two of its subsidiary banks by merging Peoples Exchange Bank, Belleville, into American State Bank & Trust, Great Bend, in the second quarter of 2016. The announcement was made by American State Bancshares President and CEO Donald R. LacKamp.
“The two banks already share certain operational functions, and the time is right to take advantage of the economies of scale that will be afforded Peoples and its customers by this merger,” stated LacKamp.
James M. Koch, President and CEO of Peoples, and his team will continue to manage the North Central Kansas market. “The merger will be very beneficial to our customers, bringing a much larger capital base, expanded lending limit and product offering, as well as additional opportunities for our employees,” said Koch.
American State Bank & Trust was recently named by the Kansas City Business Journal as the second strongest mid-size bank in the Kansas City Federal Reserve District. The acquisition will bring the consolidated assets of American State Bank & Trust to more than $400 million.