When West Texas-based Happy State Bank was bought a few years ago by Arkansas-based Centennial Bank, it set off a chain of events leading to a legal battle involving bankers and investors that finally ended in a settlement. Both sides filed a joint dismissal Friday – awaiting one last signature from a federal judge.
No dollar figure was given in court records, but there are details on the legal battle and a general sense of how much some bank investors are getting back.
After Centennial bought Happy State Bank (HSB) spanning 2021 and 2022, Jerry “Bud” Holmes – Happy’s Lubbock market president – and others left Happy for Tyler-based American State Bank (ASB), which was expanding into Lubbock, Plainview, Littlefield and other cities…