Colorado-based FirstSun Capital Bancorp, the holding company of Sunflower Bank, completed its previously announced merger with Texas-based Pioneer Bancshares, with Pioneer’s subsidiary bank, Pioneer Bank, merging into Sunflower Bank.
The combined company will operate under the FirstSun and Sunflower Bank trade names. Subsequent to the closing, FirstSun has more than $7.3 billion in assets on a pro forma basis as of Dec. 31, 2021, with 68 locations that include an expanded presence in Texas and a banking footprint in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico, with home mortgage origination capabilities in 43 states through its Guardian Mortgage division.
“Sunflower Bank has always been dedicated to growing soundly and profitably. We have a belief that the community bank ideals that we are built upon serve a need for relationship-oriented clients across communities large and small. Pioneer’s geographic footprint of Austin, Central Texas, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio is complementary to our footprint, and our product and service capabilities are supportive to the valued customer base of Pioneer,” Mollie Carter, chairman of FirstSun, said. “We believe our combined client base will benefit from our expanded footprint and the robust financial services usually found at much larger organizations.”
Pioneer’s customers and communities have joined Sunflower Bank’s Texas region, which is led by Seth Allen as regional president. Sunflower Bank hired Allen in December 2019. In addition, Brian Walsh, Sunflower Bank’s chief lending officer, is based in Dallas and has been responsible for leading the development of the Dallas-Fort Worth area teams for the bank. Other local market leaders include Chris Bourne and Donna Day in Austin, TX; Dustin Gibson in Collin County, TX; Jeff Bundy in Fort Worth, TX; and Scott Brewer in Houston. Plans are in progress to hire additional leaders for markets and lines of business.
