Five Star Credit Union has resumed its acquisitive streak in Georgia with a deal for the $215 million-asset OneSouth Bank in Macon, Georgia, it announced Monday.
The $775 million-asset Five Star, which is based in Dothan, Alabama, previously bought two other Georgia banks:
"Five Star Credit Union and OneSouth Bank have over 140 years of combined service … and share similar values," said Bob Steensma, president and CEO of Five Star Credit Union, in a press release.
The Macon-based OneSouth is a subsidiary of OneSouth Financial; financial terms of the all-cash deal were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024.
"OneSouth Bank and Five Star share many philosophies that will enable this agreement to be a win for all parties involved," said Kim Davis Wilson, president and CEO of OneSouth Bank and chairman of the Georgia Bankers Association, in the release.
The deal is the sixth involving a
Most recently, this month Harborstone Credit Union in Seattle
In total, 16
Attorney Mike Bell, who advised Five Star on the deal, said in an interview that he expects a "material uptick" in deal announcements to close out 2023.
"This segment of the market remains very active," Bell said, adding that the Southeast will continue to be a hotbed for credit union-bank deals.
John McNair, president and CEO of the Community Bankers Association of Georgia, said in an email that community banks are vital to the local communities they serve; therefore, the loss of any community bank is disappointing.
"However, the fact that tax and CRA-exempt credit unions are still allowed to purchase tax-paying community banks has much broader implications that, at some point, our state and federal legislators will need to address," McNair said.
In 2022, Georgia's Own Credit Union in Atlanta
After closing this acquisition, Five Star will have total assets of approximately $950 million and will expand its footprint to 23 branches across lower Alabama and south and middle Georgia. The credit union has about 56,000 members.
OneSouth Bank has branches in three Georgia communities: Macon, Blakely and Leesburg.
Olsen Palmer LLC was the financial advisor to OneSouth Bank, and Fenimore Kay Harrison LLP was the legal advisor.
Five Star earned $7 million in the first half of 2023, a 28% increase compared with a year earlier, according to call report data from the National Credit Union Administration.
