First Guaranty Bank (FGYH.PK) Expands Outside of Louisiana

Everyday, I get an email from the Kansas City Star's Business Journal with some the day's breaking news. Today, there was an article about a bank that I have never heard of in my life. The Bank Douglass National Bank is one of a handful of black owned banks in the nation and the only one in Kansas City.
However, that is not why it is in the news. No, it appears, that they have agreed to be acquired by another small banking company, whose other 15 branches are in Louisiana.

Louisiana-based bank owner First Guaranty Bancshares Inc.(FGYH.PK) has agreed to buy troubled Douglass National Bank of Kansas City.

Douglass, according to financial reports had a negative book value of $87,000 on Dec. 31, 2006. The banks assets, reportedly, shrank by a third for the year that ended March 31st of this year, to $66 million.

On the other hand the purchasing bank,

First Guaranty holds $729 million in assets, runs 15 branches and earned $2.5 million in the first quarter of this year.

One thing I would like to know about this is does this end the black ownership of the bank? Or is 1st Guaranty also black owned?

Douglass Bancorp Inc. owns 91 percent of Douglas National, while the remaining 9 percent is owned by Fannie Mae.