Prosperity is a $1.8-billion bank holding company with 42 Texas banking locations. Abrams, which has two full-service banking offices in Dallas, has assets in excess of $93 million, deposits of about $69 million, with more than $50 million in loans and total equity of nearly $14 million.

Last year, the Houston bank took over the Bank of the Southwest, also gaining two locations in the Dallas area. The Abrams Centre purchase, like 2002's acquisition, will be re-flagged as soon as the deal closes, Dan Rollins, Prosperity's senior vice president tells GlobeSt.com. The branches, both leased locations, are located at 9330 LBJ Freeway and 119 West Ovilla Rd. in the Glenn Heights neighborhood.

Rollins says Prosperity has mapped out a growth strategy using acquisitions. He wouldn't talk about the specifics, but stressed that it's an "inquisitive institution" that plans to expand its "footprint across the State of Texas."

Seller MB Financial acquired the Abrams Centre National Bank in 1996 when it bought out another institutions. MB Financial's strategy is to sell the Dallas operation so it can concentrate on its homeport. "We feel that our capital investment should be focused in the Chicago area," says Mitchell Feiger, president and CEO of MB Financial. "There are excellent opportunities for growth and expansion in our own backyard where we already have the critical mass to be successful.