Bank of Ozarks makes $216M acquisition of Summit

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Little Rock, Ark.-based Bank of the Ozarks Inc. says it has reached an agreement to acquire Summit Bancorp Inc. for $216 million.

Bank of the Ozarks said Thursday that Arkadelphia-based Summit has 23 branches and a loan production office spread across nine Arkansas counties. At the end of 2013, Summit had $1.2 billion in total assets, $778 million in loans and $994 million in deposits.

Summit formed in 1996 as Horizon Bank of Columbia County. Four years later it changed its name to Summit and expanded in southwest and central Arkansas.

George Gleason, chairman and chief executive officer of Bank of the Ozarks, says his bank has a presence in the northern and central parts of the state, so the Summit acquisition fits well as Bank of the Ozarks expands.