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The Florida bank says that after a string of troubled-bank acquisitions that brought it lots of short-term benefits, it is turning to deals like its agreement for Gulfstream that will juice earnings over the long haul.
July 30 -
As the epicenter of bank failures in 2010, Florida gave 2011 its first casualty. Florida was home to 18% of the 157 failures last year, with 29. Following a two-week hiatus, two banks failed on the first Friday of the new year.
January 7 -
WASHINGTON — Florida suffered yet another failure Friday as regulators closed $148 million-asset Haven Trust Bank in Ponte Vedra Beach.
September 24
CenterState Banks (CSFL) in Davenport, Fla., has agreed to buy First Southern Bancorp (FSOF) in Boca Raton, Fla.
CenterState will pay $189.5 million, split evenly between in cash and stock, for the $1.1 billion-asset First Southern. The deal values First Southern at 96.2% of tangible book value. CenterState expects to complete the acquisition in the third quarter.
"First Southern Bank is a complementary fit into our company as we have a significant presence in Jacksonville and Orlando," Ernie Pinner, CenterState's chairman, president and chief executive, said in a press release. "First Southern also provides a natural further extension of our
The $2.4 billion-asset CenterState said it will cut about half of First Southern's costs, including the closure of four overlapping branches, achieving $16 million in pretax savings next year. CenterState expects to incur about $5 million in merger-related expenses.
The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to CenterState's tangible book value and should reach double-digit accretion by 2015.
First Southern has 17 branches, $883 million in deposits and $635 million in loans. The company had acquired a pair of failed Florida banks
