Equity Bancshares to Acquire Lincoln Bancorp for $123.8 Million

07:46 AM EDT, 09/03/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Equity Bancshares (EQBK) has agreed to acquire Lincoln Bancorp in a deal valued at approximately $123.8 million, the companies said Thursday. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Lincoln shareholders will receive about 77.5% of the consideration in Equity stock and 22.5% in cash, the companies said. The transaction, which will add 16 Lincoln Savings Bank locations in Iowa to Equity's franchise, is expected to be about 5.1% accretive to Equity's 2027 earnings per share and 7.5% accretive to Equity's 2028 EPS, excluding the impact of one-time transaction costs, according to a statement. The deal is anticipated to close in Q4, with the combined company expected to have about $9.1 billion in assets, the companies said.