Small-scale bank mergers and acquisitions gain momentum in Louisiana
Since 2020, Business First Bancshares, Inc. has been actively pursuing acquisitions to expand its footprint and asset base. One of the most significant recent acquisitions was announced in July 2025, the acquisition of Progressive Bancorp, Inc. This move marked a strategic step towards entering the Dallas market and provided an addition of approximately $752 million in assets.
The acquisition of Progressive Bancorp will double Business First's presence in the northern part of Louisiana. Progressive Bancorp operates nine branches across Shreveport, Monroe, Bossier City, and Winnsboro. Upon the closing of the transaction, expected in the fourth quarter of 2022, Business First expects to issue more than 3.05 million shares to Progressive shareholders, who will own 9.3% of the combined company.
Progressive CEO George Cummings III and Progressive President David Hampton will join the boards of Business First and its subsidiary, b1BANK, respectively. Hampton will become vice chair of the north Louisiana market for b1BANK.
Regarding another potential acquisition, no verifiable information was found on an acquisition of Waterstone LSP by Business First Bancshares since 2020. Therefore, it appears that no publicly disclosed acquisition involving Waterstone LSP by Business First Bancshares has occurred in this timeframe based on available data.
Other notable bank acquisitions in 2025 involve different companies, but these are unrelated to Business First Bancshares or the specific banks mentioned.
Investar, another banking institution, is also expanding its portfolio. Investar is acquiring First National in Wichita Falls, adding 7 branches, 2 mortgage offices, and $1.5 billion in assets to its portfolio. The transaction is expected to close early in the first quarter of 2026 and will push Business First's asset total to $8.5 billion.
The deal values First National at approximately $83.6 million, based on Investar's closing price of $19.32 from June 30. Wichita Falls shareholders will receive 3,955,334 shares of Investar common stock and $7.2 million in cash for their shares. This acquisition comes less than a week after Investar announced it would buy First National Bank in Wichita Falls, Texas, also valued at around $83 million.
The pace of mergers and acquisitions in the banking space has been on the rise, but the 71 deals so far in 2022 may not meet the expectations of observers who thought President Donald Trump's return to the White House would herald a glut of transactions. The combined bank after the deal will have over $4 billion in assets.
Business First Bancshares has made six acquisitions since buying Pedestal Bank in 2020, including Waterstone LSP, Smith Shellnut Wilson, Texas Citizens Bank, Oakwood Bank, and Progressive Bancorp. First National CEO Stan Pinkham sees the deal as an opportunity to enhance strategic synergies through combined resources. This acquisition by Investar marks its second acquisition in Texas and the first in the north Dallas market. As it stands, Investar counts roughly $2.7 billion in assets and 29 branches in south Louisiana, southeast Texas, and southwest Alabama.
The acquisition of Progressive Bancorp by Business First Bancshares is not only a strategic step towards entering the Dallas market, but also doubles Business First's presence in the northern part of Louisiana.
Upon the closing of the transaction, Investar's acquisition of First National will add $1.5 billion in assets to its portfolio and push Business First's asset total to $8.5 billion.
