Transactions

Sheshunoff & Co. Investment Banking, announces Sam Houston Financial Corporation, the parent company of The First State Bank in Huntsville, Texas ($159 million in assets) has agreed to merge with First Financial Bankshares, Inc., Abilene, Texas (Nasdaq: FFIN) ($3.3 billion in assets). Sheshunoff, a national leader in merger and acquisition advisory services to financial institutions, served as the exclusive financial advisor to Sam Houston Financial Corporation.

Under the terms of the acquisition, First Financial Bankshares will pay consideration consisting of stock and cash totaling $22.2 million. The pricing is based upon Sam Houston’s equity as of December 31, 2009 and represents 1.63x book value and 1.71x book value adjusted for 8% capital. With the median price to book multiple for all bank and thrift acquisitions in 2010 equaling 1.09x, the superior pricing for this transaction reflects the quality of both First State Bank and the overall economy of Huntsville.

This is the fifth whole-bank transaction Sheshunoff has announced in the last 4 months. No firm has represented more community banks in mergers than Sheshunoff.