A merger between Union Planters and Regions at the first of July has formed one of the largest and strongest banking institutions in the country – Regions Financial Corporations.

Jimmy Brown, regional president of the group for north Mississippi, spoke to the Batesville Rotary Club on Tuesday to explain the merger.

"First of all, this was not a hostile takeover," Brown said. "This was a merger of equals."

According to Brown, the merger will give the company approximately $82 billion in assets in 15 states.

"Right now we serve north Mississippi customers from Washington County to Lowndes County and from Benton County to Attala County.

We have 50 branches, 420 employees, $1 billion in loans and $1 billion in deposits-and that’s just in the north Mississippi region," said Brown.

Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the newly combined company, which is in the top 15 bank holding companies in the nation, will offer its nearly five million customers a wider variety of services.

According to Brown, there should be no layoffs of personnel with this merger.

"There are really no overlaps with this merger, so there shouldn’t be any branch closings. It’s business as usual," said Brown.

"This will be a seamless change for our customers. The name of the game is the number of households served, now we will serve nearly 5 million customers," he added.

Regions Financial Corporation will now have some 1,400 banking centers and 1,700 ATMs in the 15-state area, and will offer more than 140 brokerage offices in the south, midwest and Texas.

"From a stock point of view, nothing has changed," said Brown.

Union Planters is no longer listed as a separate company on the New York Stock Exchange (formerly NYSE: UPC). The combined organization will now be listed as NYSE: RF. The company has some 30,000 shareholders.

"Another big piece of the merger is joining with Morgan-Keegan, in which Regions acquired a few years ago," said Brown. "Morgan-Keegan is one

of the Top 20 mortgage companies in the nation, are headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, he added.

John and Kathy Todd, owners of Southern Courier and Consulting, L.L.C., located in the industrial park in Batesville, have adopted this as their motto.

Southern Courier is a fully insured, licensed courier and consulting service, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They specialize in moving emergency and time-sensitive shipments up to 4,000 pounds.

"I’m the guy a company calls when something breaks down, or someone has forgotten to order something, make something, or ship something. You can count on us to deliver within 24 hours of dispatch," John L. Todd said.

Todd said Southern is usually more economical and faster than air freight. They deliver to 40 states overnight.

"Most of our shipments are out of Memphis, Eastern Arkansas, and northern Mississippi," added Todd. "This equates to a 1,200 mile radius of Memphis," he added.

Southern Courier provides door-to-door delivery of inbound and outbound shipments. Each delivery vehicle is equipped with a mobile phone. This allows for speedy pick-up and delivery. "We also can make changes en route if needed," said Todd.

"We can deliver, in most cases, faster than Fed Ex [air freight].

Air freight flies on schedule and is usually overnight. Delivery may be by 10 a.m. the next day to second day delivery depending on size and weight of shipment. We deliver at an overall average speed of 62 miles per hour. We dispatch within an hour from call to pick up, and we move shipments from as small as a five-pound box to 4,000 pounds, not exceeding six pallets to a 12,000 mile radius. For example right now we ship film for the filming industry to 85 theaters in five different states every week," Todd stated.

John and Kathy Todd have over thirty years of distribution, transportation, and logistics experience. They also provide consulting services in the areas of third-party freight and logistics contract negotiations, and packaging consulting.