RBC Centura Banks Inc. has completed its $1.7 billion acquisition of Alabama National BanCorp in Birmingham.
The $33 billion-asset U.S. banking unit of Royal Bank of Canada closed the deal Friday and said that 60% of the $8 billion-asset Alabama National's shareholders elected to receive the bulk of the payout in cash, rather than Royal Bank stock.
"The fact that the majority swung to cash is likely an indication of how investors view the world for financial services stocks," said Scott Custer, chief executive officer of RBC Centura.
RBC Centura also said it now has more than 430 branches in six states, including 103 it inherited from Alabama National.
Over the past few years RBC Centura has made a wave of bank acquisitions. It bought Flag Financial Corp. of Atlanta in December 2006, and this past March it bought 39 branches in Alabama from AmSouth Bancorp.
