UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 27, 2016

EQUITY BANCSHARES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 316.612.6000

Former name or former address, if changed since last report: Not Applicable

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

On October 27, 2016, Equity Bancshares, Inc. (“Equity”) held a special meeting of its stockholders (the “Equity Special Meeting”) to adopt the Agreement and Plan of Reorganization, dated July 14, 2016 (the “Merger Agreement”), between the Equity and Community First Bancshares, Inc. (“Community”), pursuant to which Community will merge with and into Equity (the “Merger”), and to approve the Merger, including the issuance of shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of Equity (“Common Stock”) in the Merger (the “Equity Merger Proposal”). A total of 7,321,984 shares of Equity’s Common Stock were entitled to vote as of September 21, 2016, the record date for the Equity Special Meeting, of which a quorum of 5,800,531 were present in person or by proxy at the Equity Special Meeting. Set forth below is a brief description of each matter voted upon at the Equity Special Meeting and the results of voting on each such matter.

On October 28, 2016, Community held a special meeting of its stockholders (the “Community Special Meeting”) to adopt the Merger Agreement and approve the Merger, and the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement (the “Community Merger Proposal”). A total of 370,450 shares of Community’s common stock were entitled to vote as of September 28, 2016, the record date for the Community Special Meeting, of which a quorum of 294,987 were present in person or by proxy at the Community Special Meeting. Set forth below is a brief description of each matter voted upon at the Community Special Meeting and the results of voting on each such matter.

Equity and Community have obtained the requisite stockholder and regulatory approvals and expect the satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions in the coming weeks.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Current Report on Form 8-K may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements reflect the current views of Equity’s management with respect to, among other things, the expected benefits of the proposed transaction, future events and Equity’s financial performance. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “predict,” “potential,” “believe,” “will likely result,” “expect,” “continue,” “will,” “anticipate,” “seek,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “goal,” “target,” “would” and “outlook,” or the negative variations of those words or other comparable words of a future or forward-looking nature. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about Equity’s industry, management’s beliefs and certain assumptions made by management, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond Equity’s control. Accordingly, Equity cautions you that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Although Equity believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, actual results may prove to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Equity’s expectations include competition from other financial institutions and bank holding companies; the effects of and changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including interest rate policies of the Federal Reserve Board; changes in the demand for loans; fluctuations in value of collateral and loan reserves; inflation, interest rate, market and monetary fluctuations; changes in consumer spending, borrowing and savings habits; the possibility that the expected benefits related to the proposed transaction may not materialize as expected; the proposed transaction not being timely completed, if completed at all; prior to the completion of the proposed transaction, Community’s business experiencing disruptions due to transaction-related uncertainty or other factors making it more difficult to maintain relationships with employees,

customers, other business partners or governmental entities, difficulty retaining key employees; the ability to obtain regulatory approval of the transactions contemplated by the Agreement; and the ability to successfully implement integration strategies or to achieve expected synergies and operating efficiencies within the expected time-frames or at all. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive.

For discussion of these and other risks that may cause actual results to differ from expectations, please refer to “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in Equity’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 17, 2016 and any updates to those risk factors set forth in Equity’s subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. If one or more events related to these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if Equity’s underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may differ materially from what Equity anticipates. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and Equity does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict those events or how they may affect us. In addition, Equity cannot assess the impact of each factor on Equity’s business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements, expressed or implied, included in this Current Report on Form 8-K are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. This cautionary statement should also be considered in connection with any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that Equity or persons acting on Equity’s behalf may issue.

Important Additional Information

This communication is being made in respect of the proposed transaction involving Equity and Community. This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

Investors and security holders are urged to carefully review and consider Equity’s public filings with the SEC, including but not limited to its Annual Reports on Form 10-K, its proxy statements, its Current Reports on Form 8-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The documents filed by Equity with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at Equity’s investor relations website at investor.equitybank.com or at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, these documents, when available, can be obtained free of charge from Equity upon written request to Equity Bancshares, Inc., Attn: Investor Relations, 7701 East Kellogg Drive, Suite 200, Wichita, Kansas 67207 or by calling (316) 612-6000.

In connection with the proposed transaction, Equity filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC which includes a joint proxy statement of Community and Equity and a prospectus of Equity, and will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION, INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF COMMUNITY AND EQUITY ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THE ENTIRE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THESE DOCUMENTS AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. A joint proxy statement/prospectus was sent to the stockholders of each institution seeking the required stockholder approvals. Investors and security holders may obtain the registration statement and the joint proxy statement/prospectus free of charge from the SEC’s website or from Equity by writing to the address provided above.

Participants in the Solicitation

Equity and Community and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from their stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about Equity’s participants may be found in the definitive proxy statement of Equity relating to its 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders filed with the SEC on March 28, 2016. The definitive proxy statement can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above. Additional information regarding the interests of such participants will be included in the proxy statement and other relevant documents regarding the proposed merger transaction filed with the SEC when they become available, copies of which may also be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.