 |
| It’s a Deal: Michaux Nash Jr. (left) and Robert A. Hulsey are joining forces. photography by Jeremy Sharp |
To say that the bankers behind the $13.6 million sale of Turtle Creek’s Dallas National Bank to American National Bank of Texas “go back a long way” would be an understatement.
Wood Nash, the grandfather of Michaux Nash Jr.—DNB’s chairman, president, and chief executive—once owned the Farmers & Merchants National Bank in Kaufman. And Wood’s friendly competitors included the forebears of ANB President/CEO Robert A. Hulsey, whose family has been in Kaufman County banking for five generations.
That connection certainly didn’t hurt when Dallas National’s board recently picked Terrell-based ANB over more than 50 other serious potential buyers. Plus, ANB offered an all-cash deal. “I had hoped a locally owned, independent bank would buy us,” says Michaux Nash, 74. “Our families have known each other since 1900, and Robert and I have done a lot of independent banking work together.”
That Dallas National, which has just one location, sold at all is somewhat surprising. The 12-year-old, $90 million community bank has a high-profile client base that includes many successful lawyers and CPAs. Money magazine once praised DNB for offering “better service at a better price” than its rivals. And Nash himself is a well-known, old-line member of the Dallas business establishment.
However, “I’m getting older and thinking about retiring,” he said one recent day, sitting in his office with Hulsey. “I want some days off.” Cracked Hulsey: “Not very many days off!”
According to their agreement, Nash has committed to keep working for three years, at least part-time, for the bank, which may be “re-branded” by ANB sometime later this year. Nash’s daughter, Paige, will stay on as senior vice president of business development.
Meantime, American National is viewing DNB as its Dallas toehold, a potentially lucrative source of business for its trust, investment, brokerage, and business-lending programs. Hulsey’s $1.5 billion bank, which has more than 35 locations—mostly to the north and east of Dallas proper—offers loans of up to $15 million. That’s well in excess of DNB’s $1.4 million legal lending limit.
