Content area
Full Text
THE ANNOUNCEMENT EARLY WEDNESday that IberiaBank Corp. of Lafayette, La., would make Pulaski Investment Corp. of Little Rock its second Arkansas acquisition in as many weeks was the culmination of four years of flirting and 90 days of intense courtship, Pulaski Chairman James C. East said.
Pulaski Investment Corp. is the holding company for Pulaski Bank & Trust, a $493 million bank with 10 branches in Pulaski County, one in Bryant and one in the Memphis suburb of Cordova, Tenn.
East and his four children - including Pulaski Bank CFO Hunter East own 92 percent of the bank, so the $130 million sale represents a payday of almost $120 million for the East clan. Because IberiaBank is paying with a mix of stock and cash, Jim East said he will become the single largest shareholder of IberiaBank, even without including the shares that will belong to his children. (Stock also has tax advantages over a cash deal.)
Jim East will also take a...