Union Planters Corp. to buy Jefferson Savings Bancorp for 1.24 times revenue, The

Weekly Corporate Growth Report, Oct 2, 2000

The Deal: The Union Planters Corp. has agreed to purchase Jefferson Savings Bancorp Inc. in a stock deal valued at $140 million. The acquisition will increase Union Planters' business in the St. Louis area. Jefferson shareholders will receive 0.433 share of Union Planters stock for each outstanding share of Jefferson.

Discussion: Jefferson Savings Bancorp is the thrift holding company for Jefferson Heritage Bank, which operates through 10 branches in the St. Louis area and 19 in Texas. The bank offers such standard retail banking products as CDs, IRAs and checking, savings and money market accounts. Jefferson Heritage Bank then uses these funds to originate mainly residential mortgage loans, construction Mans for new homes and commercial, home equity and consumer loans. The organization also has mortgage banking, real estate development and insurance subsidiaries.

The Union Planters Corp. is the holding company for Union Planters Bank and other bank subsidiaries operating some 880 branches in the southern and midwestern United States. Targeting individuals and businesses, the banks offer standard deposit products, as well as online banking, brokerage, trust services and insurance sales. The company's lending activities include commercial and residential mortgages, credit cards and factoring. Union Planters is actively growing its national mortgage activities and has 34 mortgage offices nationwide. The bank is growing aggressively through acquisitions.