IberiaBank Nabs Florida Bank Group For $86.5 Million

by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) 217 views 

IberiaBank Corp. the holding company for IberiaBank will acquire Florida Bank Group, Inc. in a cash and stock deal worth $86.5 million.

The two financial institutions announced the deal on Friday and the merger is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015 upon shareholder and regulatory approval.

The move is expected to broaden IberiaBank”s footprint along the west coast of central and south Florida and into Jacksonville in northeast Florida.

Florida Bank Group Bank, which has roughly $524 million in assets, has 13 branches and locations in the Tampa Bay area, 3 in the Jacksonville area, one in Tallahassee and one in Sarasota.

“Our organization has undergone tremendous change and we are very proud of our people and the strong teamwork they exhibited over the last several years. We faced a very challenging operating environment and executed very well on our plan,” said Susan Martinez, President and CEO of Florida Bank Group.

“Susie Martinez, her team, and the Florida Bank Group Board of Directors have done an outstanding job in rebuilding their organization and preparing for future client growth opportunities,” said IberiaBank CEO Daryl G. Byrd. “We are very excited to be teaming up with them and entering the Tampa Bay market in such a high-quality manner. The Tampa Bay area has a very strong concentration of commercial and industrial companies, which is a segment of banking in which our company excels.”

TERMS
Under the terms of the merger agreement, shareholders of Florida Bank Group will receive a combination of cash and IberiaBank (IBKC) common stock.

Florida Bank Group common shares are assumed to total approximately 5,051,745 shares at closing, assuming approximately 2,471,745 common shares outstanding, approximately 2,480,000 common shares associated with the conversion of the convertible preferred stock into common online casino shares, and 100,000 warrants outstanding that are assumed to be exercised prior to closing.

Florida Bank Group shareholders shall receive cash equal to $7.81 per share of then outstanding Florida Bank Group common stock, including shares of preferred stock that will convert to common shares in the merger. Aggregate cash consideration is approximately $39.4 million.

Each Florida Bank Group common share will be exchanged for 0.149 share of IBKC common stock, subject to certain market price adjustments provided for in the merger agreement.

Based on IBKC”s closing stock price on October 2, 2014, of $62.61 per share, the stock consideration would equate to $9.33 per Florida Bank Group common share, or approximately $47.1 million.

IberiaBank said the transaction is expected to “slightly reduce” its capital ratios and be less than one percent dilutive to tangible book value per share on a pro forma basis at closing. The tangible book value dilution is anticipated to be earned back in two years.