Sarasota community bank sold after 10-year run

Pompano Beach-based Stonegate Bank, in its 10th planned acquisition in the last seven years, announced it has bought Sarasota-based Insignia Bank for $36.5 million, or $13.52 per share of Insignia common stock.

The deal represents about 1.48 times Insignia's tangible book value through June 30, according to a statement. (By comparison, Little Rock, Ark.-based Bank of the Ozarks paid a little more than two times tangible book value for C1 Financial when it acquired the St. Petersburg institution earlier this year in a $402.5 million deal; C1 was much larger than Insignia.)

Insignia, with two branches in Sarasota County and loan production offices in Manatee and Pinellas counties, was founded in 2006. It had $248 million in assets, $210 million in deposits and $188 million in loans through June 30.

Prominent area banker Charles Brown founded Insignia. He ran Charlotte State Bank for a decade prior to Insignia, and in 1994, when he was named president of the Port Charlotte-based bank at 29 years old, he was the youngest top bank executive in Florida. At both banks Brown has been an active and vocal voice for community banks, both in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. He has served on multiple boards and committees, and spoken before state and federal business and banking panels.

Brown will be CEO of Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee Counties for Stonegate after the deal closes, according to the statement. Tyrone Shinn, a former executive with Florida Shores Bank, which Stonegate acquired in 2014, was named president of the Charlotte-Sarasota-Manatee unit.

“This merger provides significant enhancements for our customers, staff and shareholders afforded by a larger, publicly traded organization with a local presence,” Brown says in the release.

Stonegate, meanwhile, expects the acquisition will boost the publicly traded bank's total assets to about $3 billion, according to the statement. That would make Stonegate (symbol: SGBK, recent price: $32.02) the seventh largest Florida-based bank. Once the deal closes Stonegate would also become the largest community bank by total deposits in Sarasota County, with a 3.3% market share, Stonegate President and CEO Dave Seleski says in the release.

“After consummation of the merger, Stonegate's total combined deposits in west Florida are expected to exceed $850 million,” Seleski adds. “The combination will give Stonegate more leverage to deliver products to our target market in west Florida.”

Prior to Insignia, Stonegate's most recent acquisition was for Davie-based Regent Bancorp, announced in April, for around $40 million.

Insignia shareholders, under the terms of the agreement, will be entitled to receive shares of SGBK common stock, the release states. The number of SGBK shares to be issued will be determined based on the 20-trading day average closing price of SGBK's common stock as of the second business day prior to the closing date, subject to a minimum price of $27.69 and a maximum price of $35.60.

The boards of both banks approved the deal. Shareholders and regulatory agencies also need to approve the acquisition, which could close by the first quarter of 2017.