Synovus Financial Corp., the Columbus, Georgia-based bank holding company that owns Cohutta Bank in Northwest Georgia and Synovus Bank in Chattanooga, has agreed to buy Florida's largest community bank to become one of the top five regional banks in the Southeast.
Synovus said today it will pay $2.9 billion to acquire FCB Financial Holdings, Inc, owner of Florida Community Bank.
In Florida, the purchase of FCB will boost Synovus deposits by $9.9 billion while adding 50 full-service banking centers, with significant market share in all top 10 Florida markets including Miami-Dade, the largest market by population in the Southeast.
"This acquisition will expand our presence in the high-growth South Florida marketplace while leveraging FCB's market leading reputation, culture, and successful organic growth platform," said Kessel Stelling, Synovus chairman and CEO.
With the addition of FCB, Synovus will grow to a total of $36 billion in deposits and $44 billion in assets.
The transaction is expected to close by the first quarter of 2019.
Synovus expects approximately $40 million in pretax savings to be fully realized by 2020. Excluding one-time charges, Synovus expects the acquisition to be boost earnings per share by 6.5 percent in 2020.
The merger agreement has been unanimously approved by both companies' Boards of Directors. The merger is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Synovus and FCB Financial Holdings shareholders and approval by state and federal bank regulators.