WestStar Bank Holding Co. in El Paso, Texas, has agreed to buy Las Vegas Bancorp. in Albuquerque, N.M.
The $3.3 billion-asset WestStar said in a press release that it expects to buy the $500 million-asset parent of Southwest Capital Bank in the first quarter. The price wasn’t disclosed.
The companies “share more than a commitment to community banking. We share remarkably similar values,” Rick Francis, WestStar’s executive chairman, said in the release. “We share a vision for the future and a belief that locally guided community banks continue to play a vital role in helping businesses, families and communities thrive.”
Chez Steel, Southwest Capital Bank’s president and CEO, will join WestStar as New Mexico market president.
Otteson Shapiro advised WestStar. Hillworth Bank Partners and Fenimore Kay Harrison advised Southwest Capital Bank.