One of Chattanooga’s fastest growing regional banks is taking on a new name as part of a merger of two Southern banks.
BancorpSouth, which has grown into the 15th biggest bank among the 27 banks operating in metropolitan Chattanooga, will take on the Cadence Bank moniker by the end of next year after BancorpSouth and Cadence completed their merger Friday. BancorpSouth entered the Chattanooga market with a loan production office in 2014 and opened full-service bank offices in Cleveland, Tenn., in 2017 and in Chattanooga the following year.
The $27.6 billion-asset BancorpSouth, of Tupelo, Mississippi, agreed in April to pay about $2.8 billion in stock for the $18.7 billion-asset Cadence, which is headquartered in Houston.
Cadence becomes the sixth-largest bank headquartered in its nine-state footprint with $48 billion in assets. It operates in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.
“With the completion of our merger, we’re positioned to be a stronger banking franchise offering relationship-focused financial services and creating new opportunities to benefit our teammates, customers, communities and shareholders,” Dan Rollins, chairman and CEO of Cadence Bank, said in an announcement Friday. “Our larger scale, increased customer base, and financial strength and flexibility will allow us to become more competitive and efficient in our rapidly-changing industry, with a greater ability to meet customer needs by accelerating investments in technology solutions.”