CHANUTE — Southeast Bancshares, Inc., announced Monday it was selling its subsidiary, Bank of Commerce, to the parent company of United Bank & Trust.
Bank of Commerce, which has 15 locations throughout southeast Kansas, including Gas and Yates Center branches, will merge into United Bank & Trust, which will continue as the surviving bank.
The transaction is expected to close on or about Jan. 1, according to a press release.
“After careful consideration, our board concluded that this transaction is in the best interest of our customers, employees, shareholders and communities,” Mark Lair, chairman of Southeast Bancshares, Inc., said in the press release.
“United Bank & Trust shares our commitment to community banking and local decision-making,” said Casey Lair, Bank of Commerce president.
The merger will make UBT, which already has a network of 16 locations across northeast Kansas, the sixth-largest state-chartered bank in the state, with an approximate $1.4 billion combined assets.
“On behalf of UBT and United Bank & Trust, we are pleased to welcome Bank of Commerce to our organization,” said Leonard Wolfe, president and chairman of UBT Bancshares, Inc., which owns United Bank and Trust. “Bank of Commerce has built a strong reputation for personalized service and deep community relationships in southeast Kansas.”
THE BANK OF Commerce’s origins date to 1970, when Virgil Lair purchased the Stark State Bank. He quickly purchased Home State Bank in Erie in 1972, and then added banks in Chetopa, Neodesha, Thayer and Chanute in the 1980s. Branches in Parsons, Fall River, Longton and Howward were added and merged in 2020 and rebranded as Bank of Commerce.
Branches from Burden and Oxford were added shortly thereafter, before Bank of Commerce acquired Piqua State Bank in 2023, keeping its branches in Yates Center and Gas open in the process.
