Bank of the Ozarks moves closer to closing bank deals in Florida, Georgia

Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks on Friday (May 13) said it has obtained regulatory approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Arkansas State Bank Department of the merger transactions between Bank of the Ozarks and Community & Southern Bank, and C1 Bank.

Approval from the Federal Reserve Bank is pending, and Bank of the Ozarks expects that to happen by the end of the second quarter.

On Oct. 19, Bank of the Ozarks announced an all-stock pact and plan of merger to acquire Atlanta-based Community & Southern Holdings and its wholly-owned bank subsidiary, Community & Southern Bank, in a deal valued at nearly $800 million, or approximately $20.50 per fully diluted CSB share. At Sept. 30, 2015, CSB had approximately $4.4 billion of total assets, $3 billion of loans and $3.7 billion of deposits.

Following the CSB deal, Bank of the Ozarks announced Nov. 16 it would expand its southern U.S. reach and acquire St. Petersburg, Fla.-based C1 Financial in an all-stock transaction valued at $402.5 million. C1 operates 32 Florida banking offices on the west coast of Florida and in Miami-Dade and Orange counties. The majority of the offices are located in Florida’s top six metropolitan markets. At September 30, 2015, C1 had approximately $1.7 billion of total assets, $1.4 billion of loans and $1.3 billion of deposits.