Summary :
Home BancShares, Inc. (NYSE: HOMB) (“Home” or the “Company”), parent company of Centennial Bank, (“Centennial”), today announced that it has completed the purchase of the performing marine loan portfolio of Utah-based LendingClub Bank (“LendingClub”). Under the terms of the purchase agreement with LendingClub, Centennial acquired yacht loans totaling approximately $238 million.
This portfolio of loans will be housed within Centennial’s Shore Premier Finance (“SPF”) division, which will be responsible for servicing the acquired loan portfolio and originating new loan production. SPF is a specialized marine lending division of Centennial with a national platform for dealership floor plan and retail consumer marine loans. Upon completion of the acquisition, SPF has total loans receivable of approximately $1.13 billion.
“The marine business has continued to be a strong segment for Centennial Bank,” said John Allison, Home’s Chairman, CEO and President. “This opportunity allows us to acquire a quality portfolio that complements our marine finance division.”
“I am particularly pleased with the acquisition of this consumer marine portfolio,” added SPF President, John Marshall. “Our due diligence has revealed that the credit metrics for each loan in this pool will further enhance the Shore Premier Finance portfolio and should offer very similar asset performance. The growth helps to scale our business, increase our bottom line contribution, and smooth out pandemic production swings.”
Home BancShares, Inc., operating as Centennial Bank, is a bank holding company based in Conway, Arkansas. It is on the list of largest banks in the United States. The bank operates 165 branches in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, and New York City.
General
This release may contain forward-looking statements regarding the Company’s plans, expectations, goals and outlook for the future, as well as statements about the benefits of the acquisition of LendingClub’s marine loan portfolio. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events, performance or results. When we use words like “may,” “will,” “plan,” “contemplate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,” “continue,” “expect,” “project,” “predict,” “estimate,” “could,” “should,” “would,” and similar expressions, you should consider them as identifying forward-looking statements, although we may use other phrasing. Forward-looking statements of this type speak only as of the date of this news release. By nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risk and uncertainties. Various factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following: economic conditions, credit quality, interest rates, loan demand, real estate values and unemployment; disruptions, uncertainties and related effects on our business and operations as a result of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and measures that have been or may be implemented or imposed in response to the pandemic, including the impact on, among other things, credit quality and liquidity; the risk that the benefits from the acquisition of the LendingClub marine loan portfolio may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected, including as a result of changes in general economic and market conditions, ongoing or future effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, interest and exchange rates, monetary policy, laws and regulations and their enforcement, customer and employee reaction to the transaction, and the degree of competition in the geographic and business areas in which Home will operate following completion of the acquisition; the effect of any future mergers, acquisitions or other transactions to which we or our bank subsidiary may from time to time be a party, including as a result of one or more of the factors described above as they would relate to such transaction; the ability to identify, enter into and/or close additional acquisitions; legislative and regulatory changes and risks and expenses associated with current and future legislation and regulations, including those in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; technological changes and cybersecurity risks; the effects of changes in accounting policies and practices; changes in governmental monetary and fiscal policies; political instability; competition from other financial institutions; potential claims, expenses and other adverse effects related to current or future litigation, regulatory examinations or other government actions; changes in the assumptions used in making the forward-looking statements; and other factors described in reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including those factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on February 26, 2021.