Executives of The First Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq:FBMS), Whitney
National Bank, and Hancock Bank of Louisiana announced today that a
subsidiary of The First Bancshares, Inc., The First, A National
Banking Association, (www.TheFirstBank.com) ("the First") has
entered into a branch purchase and assumption agreement with
Whitney National Bank ("Whitney") and Hancock Bank of Louisiana
("Hancock") to acquire seven Whitney branches located on the
Mississippi Gulf Coast and one Whitney branch in Bogalusa,
Louisiana. As part of the branch acquisition, The First
expects to acquire approximately $68 million in loans and to assume
approximately $195 million in deposits.
The First President & CEO M. Ray "Hoppy" Cole, Jr.,
commented, "The First is excited about the opportunity to more than
double our presence along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, which we
believe is a very attractive market, as well as expand into the
neighboring Louisiana market. These eight branches have a
loyal, long-term customer base, and we look forward to providing
these customers with the continued personalized service you would
expect from a community bank. We are pleased to welcome these
Whitney branch customers and employees to The First."
On December 22, 2010, Hancock Holding Company (Nasdaq:HBHC),
parent company of Hancock, and Whitney Holding Corporation
(Nasdaq:WTNY), parent company of Whitney, announced that the
companies had entered into a definitive agreement for Hancock
Holding Company to acquire Whitney Holding Corporation, subject to
regulatory and shareholder approvals and other customary closing
conditions. On May 17, 2011, Hancock and Whitney agreed to
sell the eight Mississippi and Louisiana branches to the First to
resolve certain branch concentration concerns of the U.S.
Department of Justice relating to the merger of Whitney into
Hancock.
The branch acquisition by The First is contingent on the closing
of the proposed merger between Hancock Holding Company and Whitney
Holding Corporation, which is expected to occur in the second
quarter of 2011.
Advisors
Chaffe & Associates, Inc., with Jonathan W. Briggs as lead
investment banker, acted as financial advisor to The First, and
Dover Dixon Horne PLLC, with lead attorney Garland W. Binns Jr.,
Esq., acted as its legal advisor. Watkins Ludlam Winter &
Stennis, P.A., with lead attorney Craig N. Landrum, Esq. acted as
legal advisor to Hancock Holding Company, and Alston & Bird
LLP, with lead attorney Randolph A. Moore III, Esq. acted as legal
advisor to Whitney Holding Corporation.
About The First Bancshares, Inc.
The First Bancshares, Inc., headquartered in Hattiesburg, Miss.,
is the parent company of The First, A National Banking
Association. Founded in 1996, The First provides services
competitive to those found at larger regional banks. The First
has approximately $540 million in assets and currently has 10
locations operating in Hattiesburg, Laurel, Purvis, Picayune,
Pascagoula, Bay St. Louis, Wiggins, and Gulfport, Miss. The
company's stock is traded on Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol
FBMS. Information is available on the company's website
www.TheFirstBank.com.
About Hancock Holding Company
With approximately $8.1 billion in assets as of March 31, 2011,
Hancock Holding Company is headquartered in Gulfport,
Miss. Hancock operates 138 branches and more than 160 ATMs in
Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. Founded in 1899,
Hancock Bank has ranked as one of America's strongest, safest
financial institutions for more than 21 consecutive years; and
Hancock Holding Company has rated as one of Forbes' "100 Most
Trustworthy Companies" for two years in a row. The Hancock
financial services family also includes Hancock Investment
Services, Inc.; Hancock Insurance Agency and its divisions of J.
Everett Eaves and Ross King Walker; Magna Insurance Company;
corporate trust offices in Gulfport and Jackson, Miss., New Orleans
and Baton Rouge, La., and Orlando, Fla.; and Harrison Finance
Company. More corporate information and e-Banking are
available at www.hancockbank.com.
The Hancock Holding Company logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2758
About Whitney Holding Corporation
Through its principal subsidiary Whitney National Bank, Whitney
Holding Corporation offers commercial, retail, and international
banking services plus brokerage, investment, trust, and mortgage
services throughout the Gulf South region. With assets of
approximately $11.5 billion as of March 31, 2011, Whitney has more
than 150 locations and 200-plus ATMs across a five-state region,
including Houston, Texas, southern Louisiana, coastal Mississippi,
central and southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, and the
metropolitan Tampa Bay area. Additional information is available at
www.whitneybank.com.
"SAFE HARBOR" STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE
SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: Congress
passed the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995 in an effort
to encourage corporations to provide information about companies'
anticipated future financial performance. This act provides a
safe harbor for such disclosure, which protects the companies from
unwarranted litigation if actual results are different from
management expectations. This release contains forward-looking
statements which are not historical facts and reflects management's
current views and estimates of future economic circumstances,
industry conditions, company performance, and financial
results. These forward-looking statements are subject to a
number of factors and uncertainties which could cause Hancock's,
Whitney's or the combined company's actual results and experience
to differ from the anticipated results and expectations expressed
in such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date they are made and neither Hancock nor
Whitney assumes any duty to update forward-looking statements. In
addition to factors previously disclosed in Hancock's and Whitney's
reports filed with the SEC, the following factors among others,
could cause actual results to differ materially from
forward-looking statements or historical performance: the
possibility that the proposed transaction does not close when
expected or at all because required regulatory or other approvals
and other conditions to closing are not received or satisfied on a
timely basis or at all; the terms of the proposed transaction may
need to be modified to satisfy such approvals or conditions; the
anticipated benefits from the proposed transaction such as it being
accretive to earnings, expanding the combined company's geographic
presence and synergies are not realized in the time frame
anticipated or at all as a result of changes in general economic
and market conditions, interest and exchange rates, monetary
policy, laws and regulations (including changes to capital
requirements) and their enforcement, and the degree of competition
in the geographic and business areas in which the companies
operate; the ability to promptly and effectively integrate the
businesses of Whitney and Hancock; reputational risks and the
reaction of the companies' customers to the transaction; diversion
of management time on merger-related issues; changes in asset
quality and credit risk; the inability to sustain revenue and
earnings; changes in interest rates and capital markets; inflation;
customer acceptance of our products and services; customer
borrowing, repayment, investment and deposit practices; customer
disintermediation; the introduction, withdrawal, success and timing
of business initiatives; competitive conditions; and the impact,
extent and timing of technological changes, capital management
activities, and other actions of the Federal Reserve Board and
federal and state banking regulators, and legislative and
regulatory actions and reforms, including those associated with the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Acts.
CONTACT: The First Bancshares, Inc.
M. Ray "Hoppy" Cole Jr., President & CEO
Dee Dee Lowery, EVP & CFO
601.268.8998
Whitney National Bank
Trisha Voltz Carlson, SVP
Manager Investor Relations
504.299.5208
Hancock Bank
Carl J. Chaney, President & CEO
Michael M. Achary, EVP & CFO
800.522.6542 or 228.868.4725
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