HATTIESBURG, Miss.--( BUSINESS WIRE )--The First, A National Banking Association ("The First"), headquartered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and subsidiary of The First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FBMS "FBMS") has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire seven Cadence Bank, N.A. branches in Northeast Mississippi. Cadence Bank, N.A. is a subsidiary of Cadence Bancorporation (NYSE: CADE "Cadence"). The divestiture of these branches is a result of the joint Letter of Agreement ("LOA") entered into between BancorpSouth Bank (NYSE: BXS "BancorpSouth") and Cadence with the United States Department of Justice's Antitrust Division ("DOJ") in connection with the proposed merger of BancorpSouth and Cadence.