April 29 (Reuters) - Regional lender UMB Financial Corp ( UMBF )

has agreed to buy its smaller rival Heartland Financial

in an all-stock deal valued at about $2 billion, the

banks said on Monday.

Founded in 1981, Denver-based Heartland had $19.4 billion in

assets and $16.2 billion in total deposits, as of March 31.

Shares of Heartland rose nearly 4% in premarket trading,

while UMB Financial's ( UMBF ) stock was last up 1.2%.

The companies expect the deal to close in the first

quarter of 2025.