First Bancshares in Hattiesburg, Miss., has agreed to buy Sunshine Financial in Tallahassee, Fla.
The $2.2 billion-asset First said in a press release Wednesday that it will pay $32.1 million in cash and stock for the $194 million-asset parent of Sunshine Community Bank. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.
The acquisition will provide First with it first branches in Tallahassee. Sunshine has five branches, $161 million in loans and $142 million in deposits.
“Sunshine is well known in Tallahassee as a customer-focused organization that delivers exemplary service,” Hoppy Cole, First Bancshares’ president and CEO, said in the release. “Tallahassee is a growing market which is a natural extension of our strategic vision to build market share in the Florida panhandle.”
Keefe, Bruyette and Woods and Alston & Bird advised First Bancshares. Banks Street Partners and Silver, Freedman, Taff & Tiernan advised Sunshine.
