CenterState to reach $10B in assets with two acquisitions

CenterState Banks in Winter Haven, Fla., has agreed to buy two banks in Florida.

The $6.8 billion-asset CenterState said in a press release Monday that it will buy HCBF Holding, the parent of the $1.9 billion-asset Harbor Community Bank in Fort Pierce, and the $956 million-asset Sunshine Bancorp in Plant City. The deals are expected to close in the first quarter.

CenterState said it expects to have more than $10 billion in assets when the deals close. At that point, the company will face mandatory stress testing and caps on interchange fees, among other things.

The acquisitions “are the logical next step to fulfill our vision of becoming Florida's bank,” John Corbett, CenterState’s president and CEO, said in the release.

CenterState agreed to pay $416.7 million in cash and stock for HCBF, which was created in 2011 when Michael Brown Sr. bought a struggling bank, turned it into a thrift and bought a number of other institutions. Brown sold his previous bank, Harbor Florida Bancshares, to National City in 2006 for a hefty premium.

CenterState will pay $176.7 million in stock for Sunshine, which had been pursuing acquisitions since hiring former Susquehanna Bancshares executive Andrew Samuel as its CEO in 2014.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods; Alston & Bird; and Smith Mackinnon advised CenterState. Sandler O’Neill and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advised HCBF. Hovde Group and Luse Gorman advised Sunshine.