Mississippi-based Trustmark Corporation and Mobile-based BancTrust Financial Group, Inc. announced Tuesday the signing of a definitive merger agreement.

Bibb Lamar, BancTrust President and CEO, said on a conference call Tuesday morning that the two banks had been working toward an agreement for more than a year.

“BancTrust is in some very attractive Alabama markets,” Trustmark CEO Jerry Host said of his bank’s first entry into the state. “We feel like the conversion will be straightforward. We feel like this will be a seamless transaction for the BancTrust customer.”

Under the terms of the agreement, BancTrust will merge into Trustmark. The agreement has already been approved by both banks’ board of directors and now needs only the approval of BancTrust shareholders and regulatory authorities. Per conditions of the merger, BancTrust shareholders would receive .125 shares of Trustmark common stock for each share of BancTrust common stock in a tax-free exchange, post-closing.

Trustmark intends to buy back more than $50 million of BancTrust’s preferred stock.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012.

For more information, see the Wednesday edition of The Demopolis Times.