Abilene-based First Financial Bankshares Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiary First Financial Bank N.A., announced Wednesday it will acquire Fort Worth’s 4Trust Mortgage Inc. for $1.9 million in cash.
4Trust is a residential mortgage loan origination company that has been serving customers in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for 15 years. They currently have three offices located in Fort Worth, Dallas and North Richland Hills, Texas. In 2014, 4Trust originated approximately $175 million in residential mortgage loans that were subsequently sold in the secondary market.
As part of the acquisition, 4Trust’s Troy A. Fore Jr., president and CEO, will become president of First Financial Mortgage, the mortgage division of First Financial Bank. The transaction is expected to close in May.
“For 15 years, 4Trust has been providing exceptional residential mortgage services in the D-FW area with a tailored customer service approach that we feel emulates the First Financial service philosophy,” said F. Scott Dueser, chairman, president and CEO of First Financial. “4Trust is one of the top mortgage companies in Fort Worth and will bring us a nice percentage of the market.”
Fore has over 35 years of mortgage banking experience, beginning work as a high school student for Jean Fore Mortgage, his mother’s mortgage company in Shreveport, Louisiana. In 1985, he earned a Bachelors and Masters of Business Administration from Baylor University. Partnering with top loan originators Jean Dees, Tammie Harding and Kami Graves, Fore launched 4Trust Mortgage in July of 2000. The business is currently based in the Frost Bank building at 4200 S. Hulen St., but will relocate to the First Financial building under construction at the northwest corner of Rosedale and Forest Park Boulevard when it opens.
Headquartered in Abilene, First Financial Bankshares is a publically traded (FFIN on NASDAQ) financial holding company that through its subsidiary, First Financial Bank, operates 12 banking regions with 62 locations in Texas.