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Allegiance Bancshares (ABTX) and CBTX (CBTX) announced that their respective shareholders had approved the agreement for the merger of equals of Allegiance and CBTX. These approvals complete another step in the process to establish Stellar Bank, a premier local bank with the scale and capabilities to provide extraordinary service to a broad range of business and consumer customers throughout the Houston region and beyond. The companies expect to close the merger after receipt of regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

CBTX, Inc. (CBTX) and Allegiance Bancshares, Inc. (ABTX) jointly announced that Stellar Bancorp, Inc. will be the name of the combined company and Stellar Bank will be the name of the combined bank to be created through their merger of equals. Upon completion of the merger, Stellar Bank is expected to have over $11 billion in assets and have the 6th largest deposit market share in Houston. The two companies took a purposeful and collaborative approach to the development of the new name. Guided by research and branding consultants, extensive exploration resulted in the name, Stellar Bank. The companies will reveal additional brand elements, such as the logo, at a later date. The organizations expect to operate under the Stellar Bank name later in the year, once system conversion has been completed, which will take place after the legal closing of the merger. Until then, customers will continue to be served under the Allegiance Bank and CommunityBank of Texas brands for the near future. The merger is expected to close during the second quarter, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals and approval by the shareholders of each company.

On November 8, 2021, Allegiance and CBTX, Inc., jointly announced that they entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which the companies will combine in an all-stock merger of equals. CBTX reported total assets of $4.49 billion as of December 31, 2021. Under the terms of the definitive merger agreement, Allegiance shareholders will receive 1.4184 shares of CBTX, Inc. common stock for each share of Allegiance common stock they own. Following the completion of the merger, we estimate that former Allegiance shareholders will own approximately 54% and former CBTX, Inc. shareholders will own approximately 46% of the combined company. The companies have submitted the required regulatory filings and, subject to satisfaction or in some cases waiver of the closing conditions, including approval of the merger agreement by both companies' shareholders, the parties anticipate closing in the second quarter of the year. Each company has scheduled a special meeting for May 24, 2022 at which its respective shareholders will consider and vote on the merger agreement and other related matters.

On April 28, 2022, the Board of Directors of Allegiance authorized the repurchase of up to one million shares of outstanding Allegiance common stock through April 30, 2023. Repurchases under this program may be made from time to time through open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions or such other manners as will comply with applicable laws and regulations. The timing and actual number of shares repurchased will depend on a variety of factors including price, corporate and regulatory requirements, market conditions and other corporate liquidity requirements and priorities. The repurchase program does not obligate Allegiance to purchase any particular number of shares and there is no guarantee as to the exact number of shares that will be repurchased by Allegiance. Allegiance may suspend, modify or terminate the program at any time and for any reason, without prior notice. On April 30, 2022, the Company's previously approved one million share repurchase authorization will expire.