Hancock Whitney has agreed to buy Trustmark for about $3.2 billion in stock, the two Mississippi-based lenders announced Thursday. The deal would create a regional bank with about $58 billion in assets. The companies expect the deal to close late in the first quarter of 2027. They plan to switch Trustmark branches to the Hancock Whitney name later that year.
Shareholders of both companies and regulators still have to approve the deal. If it closes, Hancock Whitney would exchange 0.7463 of its shares for each Trustmark share. The $3.2 billion figure reflects Hancock Whitney's closing share price on Nov. 11, so the dollar value can move with its stock. The companies expect Hancock Whitney shareholders to own about 65% of the combined company and Trustmark shareholders to own about 35%.
What the deal says about branches
Trustmark, based in Jackson, reported $19.1 billion in assets as of Sept. 30. Its offices span Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Hancock Whitney, based in Gulfport, already has financial centers across five states, including Louisiana. It also has offices in the Nashville and Atlanta areas that originate loans and take deposits. The proposed deal follows Hancock Whitney's August purchase of the parent company of One Florida Bank.
The companies said Trustmark branches would switch to the Hancock Whitney brand at conversion, which they expect in late 2027. Their joint announcement gave no branch-by-branch plan and no dates for changes to cards, online banking or automatic payments. That leaves customers using their existing bank's instructions until it sends a conversion notice. In central Mississippi, Hancock Whitney plans to form a local advisory board after the merger. Five Trustmark directors, including CEO Duane Dewey, would join the Hancock Whitney board when the deal closes.
When deposit insurance could change
For customers who keep money at both banks, the relevant date for federal deposit insurance is when one insured bank assumes the other's deposits. The federal rule keeps the transferred deposits separately insured for six months from that date. For some certificates of deposit, separate coverage lasts until a maturity date after the six-month period. A CD that renews during those first six months can be treated differently depending on whether the amount and term stay the same.
The companies' projected closing and conversion dates serve different purposes. Neither is a notice that customer accounts have moved, and the announcement doesn't start the insurance clock. Customers with deposits at both banks can use the actual assumption date, once confirmed, to work out when they need to review combined balances in the same ownership category.
