This March - Thursday, to be more precise - bank executives invited me to their office to tell me they planned to combine Vista Bank Texas and CommunityBank of Texas. But this time, richer shareholders weren't going to ride off into the sunset just yet - it's expected to be a merger of equals, allowing "everyone to maintain their position" in the bank. In other words, there's no premium. "Frankly, I think there should be more of these (types of deals), but typically egos get in the way," said Dan Bass, Houston managing director of Performance Trust Capital Partners. "One side or another wants control or wants a premium." But who knows, Bass said - the deal could spur similar transactions "where they put their egos in check and say, look, this makes a lot of sense. Merger and acquisition multiples aren't going to get back anytime soon to what we were used to. But if we get to $2 billion, and they do come back, our shareholders are going to benefit from that."
