Good Strategy

David Seleski had good reason to laugh when John Allison crowned him with a plastic hat in the shape of a razorback hog March 27.

Seleski was in Arkansas to announce the sale of Pompano Beach-based Stonegate Bank to Home BancShares, the Conway, Ark.-based parent of Centennial Bank, for a premium price post-recession. Seleski, the CEO of Stonegate, founded the bank in 2005.

The crowd that gathered at the news conference squealed in delight as Allison, chairman of Home, and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson also presented Seleski with a Red Wolf jersey from Arkansas State with his name emblazoned on the back and the number 22 representing Home's 22nd bank acquisition. “I think my Gator friends are probably crawling right now,” chuckled Seleski in a video posted on Home's website.