The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. approved Tupelo, Miss.-based BancorpSouth Bank's acquisitions of Casey Bancorp Inc. and Merchants Trust Inc.

The deals would see Dallas-based Casey Bancorp and unit Grand Bank of Texas, as well as Jackson, Ala.-based Merchants Trust and unit Merchants Bank merge into BancorpSouth Bank.

Both deals are expected to close April 1, upon which BancorpSouth's assets will rise to approximately $18.6 billion.