CrossFirst Bankshares Inc Acquisition

 

First Busey Corporation (“Busey”) announced the completion of its acquisition of CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc., the holding company for CrossFirst Bank, effective March 1, 2025. This transaction—the largest in Busey’s 157-year history—was originally announced on August 27, 2024.

Busey will operate CrossFirst Bank as a separate banking subsidiary of Busey until it is merged with Busey Bank, which is expected to occur in June 2025. At the time of the bank merger, all CrossFirst Bank locations will become branches of Busey Bank, operating under the Busey brand to create a premier full-service commercial bank serving clients from 77 locations across 10 states in the Midwest and Southwestern U.S. The partnership extends Busey’s regional operating model into high-growth metro markets—bolstering its commercial banking relationships and offering additional opportunities to grow its wealth management business and payment technology solutions subsidiary, FirsTech, Inc.

“This is a transformational partnership that advances our organization and will ultimately benefit each of our Pillars—associates, customers, communities and shareholders,” said Van Dukeman, Chairman & CEO of Busey and Chairman of Busey Bank. “We look forward to fully integrating our banks while leveraging the talent, expertise, increased scale and market presence to benefit our Pillars.”

Founded in 2007, CrossFirst Bank is based in Leawood, Kansas, and operates 16 locations in high-growth metro markets such as Kansas City, Wichita, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver and Phoenix. Its strong metro market footprint, commercial focus and growth potential is expected to elevate the combined company, which now has total assets of approximately $20 billion, $17 billion in total deposits, $15 billion in total loans and $14 billion in wealth assets under care.

“Taking our organization to new heights, this partnership combines our growing commercial bank with the power of Busey’s core deposit franchise, exceptional wealth management platform and the impressive payment tech solutions at FirsTech, Inc.,” said Mike Maddox, CrossFirst CEO, President and Director who now serves as Vice Chairman & President of Busey and President & CEO of Busey Bank. “We look forward to building upon the strong legacy of outstanding service and community engagement that both organizations have developed to create even more opportunities for our teams and clients.”

Effective as of financial close, Busey and Busey Bank is governed by a 13-member Board of Directors comprised of eight directors from Busey or Busey Bank and five from CrossFirst. Additionally, under terms of the merger agreement, CrossFirst shareholders own approximately 36.5% of the combined company, on a fully-diluted basis, and are eligible to receive Busey’s ongoing dividends as declared. Shares of CrossFirst common stock ceased trading after the closing of the NASDAQ stock market on February 28, 2025. The combined company’s shares will continue trading on the NASDAQ under the “BUSE” ticker symbol.

First Busey Corporation will move its headquarters to Leawood, Kansas, in the Kansas City metro area, which is central to the combined footprint. Busey Bank’s headquarters remain in Champaign, Illinois.