Latest acquisition brings CB&S Bank’s assets to $3.0 billion

While Russellville- based CB&S Bank continues its meteoric growth, CEO Mike Ross says that expansion has not, and will not, ever be more important than the bank’s hometown, where it began almost 120 years ago.

CB&S Bank’ latest acquisition is Trenton, Georgia, based Citizens Bank & Trust, a three-branch bank with more than $128.5 million in assets.

The agreement was signed November 18, 2025, with the transaction expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals. 

This merger will bring CB&S Bank’s assets to a staggering $3 billion. The bank operates 55 branches in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia.

“I would attribute one of the biggest secrets to the success of our group is we maintain that small town service orientation. If we had not done that, our growth would not be nearly as robust it has been,” Ross said. 

“As we continue to grow and things change in our business, that customer service attitude will never change. That’s been fundamental to our core values for many, many years and that will not change,” he added.

CB&S Bank’s past acquisitions have included several struggling banks but with Citizens Bank & Trust, Ross said CB&S brings into its family a high-performing bank on sound financial footing.

Citizens Bank & Trust was founded in 1988 and has built a solid reputation as a community bank with a long history of serving local families and businesses across northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama.

Mike Ross, CB&S Bank CEO and President

“They are a very profitable bank and we’re excited about them becoming part of our team,” Ross said. “We try to focus on banks headquartered in relatively small towns. We’re a small town bank ourselves. We just happen to be a large small town bank and we think like a large bank.

“We‘ll try as best we can to allow them to continue doing things that have made them successful in their community, but with some additional options not currently offered,” he added.

Ross said Citizens Bank & Trust will now be able to make larger loans, and our financial services business will provide insurance and retail brokerage to their customers. CB&S Bank owns a secondary mortgage business and that makes the market more accessible with more choices in mortgage type products as well.

“Those options are not currently available today, so it will add earl value to their customers,” Ross said. “We have some treasury management product offerings Citizens Bank & Trust does not have today. They’re an outstanding bank, but these products we’ve developed because we’re larger in size.”

Ross said it’s a learning lesson each time CB&S acquires another bank. With Citizens Bank & Trust, its non-mortgage consumer lending business is thriving, Ross said.

“Our board recognizes they do some things in consumer lending areas where we can learn from them and do a better job in that area. We’re looking forward as we start integration talks about learning more about how they do that,” Ross said.

CB&S Bank’s aggressive acquisition strategy has not come at the sacrifice of serving Franklin County customers, though.

“We watch closely how we perform in each market. One thing we’re really proud of our team for is that with this growth, we continue to gain market share in Franklin County. Our core customers are the reason we’re in business in the first place and we’re not going to forget that,” Ross said.

Trenton’s proximity to Chattanooga, Tenn., strengthens CB&S’ presence in the Chattanooga market. Chattanooga is located between the high-growth markets of Nashville and Atlanta and is supported by a regional workforce exceeding 295,000 and a strong pipeline of 12,000 university students.

“We are excited about this partnership and the opportunities it will bring to our customers and employees,” said Chris Powell, CEO of Citizens Bank & Trust. “Joining the CB&S Bank family provides us with additional resources, technology and scale to continue providing exceptional service across our markets.”