How to Dismantle a Struggling Bank
June 22, 2015 11:00 AM
John Poelker recently stepped down from CertusHoldings in Greenville, S.C., but in less than a year on the job he broke up a $1.7 billion-asset company that had lost roughly $170 million from 2012 to 2014 amid investor claims of mismanagement and excessive spending by his predecessors. Here's a look at how he did it.
Brokerage Business Sold
It took Poelker (pictured) four months to find a buyer Eximius Holdings for Certus' brokerage and investment-advisory businesses . "We are undoing structural and operational components of the company that are no longer consistent with our strategic transition toward a more traditional community banking business model," Poelker said at the time.
Mortgage Exit
The next business to go was Certus' mortgage-lending operation, which Poelker sold to AmeriSave Mortgage in Atlanta. Gary Seuss, Certus' head of mortgage banking, joined AmeriSave as executive vice president of sales when the deal closed in December.
Another Fee Business Goes
Certus also had a national platform for small-business lending , which it sold, along with a $203 million loan book, to BankUnited in Miami Lakes, Fla. BankUnited, led by John Kanas (pictured), paid $279 million in cash in a deal that closed in early May.
Bye-Bye Branches
Poelker later began to carve up Certus' branch network. The first deal involved the sale of two branches , along with a number of deposits, in North Carolina to Aquesta Bank and CommunityOne Bancorp. The sales will allow Certus to exit North Carolina.
A Big Transaction
Another Buyer Found
BNC Bancorp in High Point, N.C., agreed to buy seven Certus branches in South Carolina, along with $284 million in deposits and $210 million in loans. BNC made it clear to analysts afterward that it had not agreed to buy Certus' opulent headquarters office in Greenville.
Final Branch Sales
Morris Bank in Duluth, Ga., agreed to buy a branch with $62 million in deposits and $3 million in loans, while Queensborough National Bank and Trust in Louisville, Ga., walked away with two offices and an undisclosed amount of deposits and loans. Those deals left Certus with no meaningful retail presence.
What's Left?
Certus will close branches in Ponte Vedra, Fla., and Columbia, S.C., along with its Greenville headquarters. The company has not disclosed what it plans to do with its nearly $1 million art collection, 13-foot touch-screen "media wall" and the 300,000 pennies affixed to the ceiling of an office suite.
