Add Park National Corp. in Newark, Ohio, to the growing roster of Midwest banking companies buying their way into Florida.
In its first deal ever outside of its home state, the $5.4 billion-asset Park National said late Thursday that it is acquiring the $689 million-asset Vision Bancshares Inc. in Panama City for $171 million in cash and stock.
Park National President David L. Trautman said the multibank holding company has been looking to acquire a bank in a more vibrant market for over a year. Park has 12 banks with 135 branches in Ohio and one in northern Kentucky.
"The Midwest economy has been a lot of things, but 'robust' is not a word associated with it," Mr. Trautman said in an interview. "We've been looking for a long time for a group of bankers that think like us but operate in a more robust market."
The deal for Vision is the sixth announced since early April in which a banking company in the Midwest agreed to buy one based in Florida, according to SNL Financial LC of Charlottesville, Va.
Other first-time Florida buyers include Republic Bancorp Inc. in Louisville, which is buying GulfStream Community Bank in Port Richey, and National City Corp. of Cleveland, which in the span of 16 days in July announced deals for Harbor Florida Bancshares Inc. in Fort Pierce and Fidelity Bankshares Inc. in West Palm Beach. Each of the Nat City deals is valued at more than $1 billion.
John Blaylock, associate director of Alex Sheshunoff & Co. Investment Banking LP, in Austin, said he expects the trend to continue.
Bankers in slow-growing Midwest markets see opportunities to expand and diversify their loan portfolios by moving into faster-growing markets, such as the Southeast, and many people from the Midwest retire to Florida, so it makes sense for their banks to follow them there, he said.
"A lot of them have second homes in Florida or other locations. It is interesting that Midwesterners tend to locate on the west coast of Florida, which is where Vision is," Mr. Blaylock said.
Founded six years ago, Vision has 15 branches along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, stretching from Mobile Bay, Ala., to Port St. Joe, Fla. It has two community bank subsidiaries that would keep their names, management, and boards. The deal with Park National is expected to close in the first quarter.
Vision said Danny Sizemore, its chairman and chief executive officer, was not available to comment, but he said in a news release that his company "should fit well into Park's banking model, which emphasizes shared resources and knowledge with independent, local leadership and autonomy."
Selling itself to Park National would help Vision increase its lending limits and offer its customers more products and services, including trust and investments, he said.
Fred A. Cummings, an analyst with KeyBanc Capital Markets of Cleveland, said the deal was not a surprise because Park has been talking about expanding outside the Midwest for some time.
"I think it is a net positive from a growth standpoint. You look at Park's balance sheet, it clearly wasn't growing," Mr. Cummings said.
Cory Gunderson, a managing director in the financial services practice at the Chicago risk consulting firm Protiviti Inc. said technology is making it easier for holding companies to manage subsidiary banks at a distance.
"The ability for smaller and midsize [banking] companies to expand their footprint is being enabled by some of the technology we have today of video conferencing and webcasting," he said.
Still, Park National is not giving up on expanding the Midwest. Mr. Trautman said its $17.7 million deal for the $67 million-asset Anderson Bank Co. of Cincinnati, announced in August, shows its commitment to its home markets.
"I don't mean to suggest that now the Southeast will now be our bread and butter," he said.
Park National's stock fell 1.3% Friday to close at $103.65 a share. Vision is a privately held company.
