The pending sale of Synovus Financial in Columbus, Ga., to Pinnacle Financial Partners in Nashville, Tenn., includes a series of high-stakes compensation arrangements for the team that will lead the newly combined company. The $54.8 billion-asset Pinnacle announced last week that it would pay $8.6 billion in stock for the $61 billion-asset Synovus in a deal expected to close in the first quarter. Terry Turner, Pinnacle's chairman and CEO, will serve

East Texas Financial in Kilgore has agreed to buy Texas National Bancorp. in Jacksonville. The parent of the $488 million-asset Citizens Bank did not disclose how much it plans to pay for the $836 million-asset Texas National. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The acquisition "represents a strategic step forward ... enabling us to expand our presence in new communities in East Texas while maintaining local,

Simmons First National in Pine Bluff, Ark., shed underperforming securities. The company, which recently raised $327 million by selling common stock, disclosed in a regulatory filing that it sold about $3.2 billion of investment securities to Morgan Stanley at an after-tax loss of about $604 million. The loss will be recorded in the third quarter.

Customers Bancorp in West Reading, Pa., didn't have to look far for its next CEO. The $22.5 million-asset company said in a press release that Sam Sidhu will succeed his father, Jay Sidhu, on Jan. 1. Jay Sidhu will remain chairman. Jay Sidhu bought a $200 million-asset bank in 2009 and rebranded it as Customers Bank. He was also the co-founder and former CEO of Sovereign Bancorp, though he was

Heritage Financial in Olympia, Wash., reported lower quarterly profit after it sold more underperforming securities. The $7.1 billion-asset company said in a press release that its second-quarter net income fell by 14% from a year earlier, to $12.2 million. During the quarter, Heritage sold $91.6 million of securities at a pretax loss of $6.9 million. Net proceeds were used to buy $56.4 million in higher-yielding securities and to fund new

Flagstar Financial in Hicksville, N.Y., plans to dissolve its holding company. The $97.6 billion-asset company said in a press release that the unusual move should reduce annual expenses by $15 million and eliminate oversight by the Federal Reserve. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would become the primary regulator. Flagstar CEO Joseph Otting is a former comptroller of the currency. The move, if approved, is expected to take

Pinnacle Financial Partners in Nashville, Tenn., has agreed to buy Synovus Financial in Columbus, Ga. The $54.8 billion-asset Pinnacle said in a press release that it will pay $8.6 billion in stock for the $61 billion-asset Synovus. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter. Pinnacle shareholders will own about 51.5% of the combined company, which will operate under the Pinnacle Financial Partners and Pinnacle Bank name and

OnPath Federal Credit Union in Metairie, La., has agreed to buy Heritage Bank of St. Tammany in Covington, La. The $1.1-billion asset credit union said in a press release that it plans to buy the $183.5-million Heritage next spring. OnPath will pay $26 million in cash to Heritage NOLA Bancorp and reimburse the bank up to $2 million for the payout of its liquidation account and up to $1 million