News

Liberty Bank sells to Centennial Bank, owned by Home Bancshares.


Home BancShares Inc. of Conway announced the signing of a definitive agreement worth $280 million for Liberty Bancshares Inc. of Jonesboro to merge into HOMB. Under the terms of agreement, shareholders of Liberty will receive $250 million of HOMB common stock plus $30 million in cash.

The price represents a multiple of 1.06 times actual shareholder equity and about 1.6 times book value when intangibles like goodwill are included.

The acquisition is expected to close late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter of 2013 and is subject to Home and Liberty shareholder approval, regulatory approval, and other conditions set forth in the merger agreement.

The announcement was made Tuesday afternoon in downtown Little Rock. Jonesboro Radio Group General Manager Trey Stafford was LIVE in Little Rock along with KAIT’s GM Tracey Rogers.

Listen below as Tracey and Trey weigh in on the breaking news story…

Liberty has a staff of 632 and operates a branch network of 42 full-service locations in Arkansas. The company recorded a profit of $6.1 million during the first quarter of 2013.

Centennial operates a full-service branch network with 51 locations in Florida, 46 locations in Arkansas and seven in Alabama with a companywide staff of 895. The bank reported net income of $18.1 million during the first quarter.

Read more on this story on the KAIT website

This Week in Jonesboro

Recent Headlines

14 hours ago in Lifestyle

Caregivers need to take care of themselves, too

Nearly one in four adults in the United States, or 63 million people, provided care to adults or children with medical conditions or disabilities in 2025, a total that jumped by almost 50% in 10 years, according to a report by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP.

21 hours ago in Entertainment

Mia Goth files for divorce from Shia LaBeouf nearly 10 years after the actors married

Mia Goth has filed for divorce from Shia LaBeouf nearly 10 years after the two actors were married. The petition filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court says the 32-year-old Goth and the 40-year-old LaBeouf have been separated since July 2025.

21 hours ago in National, Trending

Hurricane Isaias is expected to get stronger on its way to Florida, Alabama and Mississippi coasts

Isaias surged toward the U.S. Gulf Coast on Thursday as the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, prompting mandatory evacuations, school closures and local government shutdowns in parts of Florida.

2 days ago in Entertainment

Eva Marie Saint, star of ‘North by Northwest’ and ‘On the Waterfront,’ dies at 102

Eva Marie Saint, the pale, willowy actor who won an Academy Award for her first movie, "On the Waterfront," and starred opposite Cary Grant in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller "North by Northwest," has died. She was 102.

2 days ago in National, Trending

Tropical Storm Isaias forms, is forecast to become a hurricane and hit US Gulf Coast this week

Tropical Storm Isaias formed early Wednesday in the warm waters off eastern Mexico and forecasters said it was expected to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season before hitting the U.S. Gulf Coast later in the week.