The board of Bank of the Ozarks proposes that the company rebrand to Bank OZK. The move, according to a press release, "frees [the Little Rock, Ark.-based institution] from the limitations of a name tied to a specific geographic region."
Bank of the Ozarks expects to record $15 million to $25 million in related expenses, pretax, in the third quarter.
Shareholders will vote on the proposal at the May 7 annual meeting. They will also vote on the nominations of Jeffrey Gearhart and Christopher Orndorff, among others, to the board. Gearhart, according to the bank's proxy statement, was previously Walmart Inc.'s executive vice president for global governance. Orndorff is Vulcan Capital's chief investment officer.
Should the proposed name change secure shareholder and regulatory approvals, Bank of the Ozarks expects the rebranding to take effect July 16. It also intends to change its ticker symbol on the Nasdaq Global Select Market to OZK from OZRK.
The company additionally disclosed a 2017 CEO pay ratio of 174 to 1. Chairman and CEO George Gleason II received $6.9 million in total compensation that year. The median annual compensation for all other employees was $39,626.
