Metcalf Bank to merge with longtime Lawrence bank

Metcalf Bank has announced an agreement to merge with Douglas County Bank, a 62-year-old banking company in Lawrence.

Financial terms of the deal, which requires regulatory approval, were not disclosed. Overland Park-based Metcalf Bank is owned by Central Bancompany, which is headquartered in Jefferson City.

Once the transaction is completed, Douglas will operate under the Metcalf Bank name.

The merged operation will have combined assets of $1.5 billion, with $1.1 billion in loans and $1.43 billion in deposits.

Douglas County Bank has seven branches in Lawrence and Eudora, and the merger will expand Metcalf’s operations to 33 locations in 17 communities.

“Important in this decision was choosing a bank that would continue with the same local community focus we believe in,” Pat Slabaugh, president of Douglas County Bank said in a statement.

Douglas County Bank opened in 1952 in downtown Lawrence at the corner of Ninth and Massachusetts streets. The bank moved to its current main location in 1961 at Ninth and Kentucky streets.

The bank was purchased by Ross Beach in 1964, according to the bank’s website, and it is still owned by the Beach family, pending the merger.

Central Bancompany, a fourth-generation, family-owned company, has more than $10 billion in assets and operates in Illinois and Oklahoma in addition to Missouri and Kansas.

This story was originally published September 30, 2014 at 1:00 AM with the headline "Metcalf Bank to merge with longtime Lawrence bank."