Another area community bank is sold

Stuart-based Seacoast National Bank, already one of the largest community banks in Florida, is about to get bigger, in assets and geography: The bank has acquired Tampa-based GulfShore Bank, a $332 million asset institution with two branches in Tampa and one in St. Petersburg.

Seacoast's holding company, Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida, will pay a total of $54.8 million for GulfShore's holding company, GulfShore Bancshares, according to a statement. The deal is a stock-cash split: GulfShore common shareholders will receive a combination of 0.4807 shares of Seacoast common stock and $1.47 in cash for each share they own, representing a mix of 85% Seacoast common shares and 15% cash, the release adds. The deal values GulfShore's shares at $9.80 per share. The transaction price represents a 1.46x multiple to GulfShore's tangible book value per share as of Sept. 30,

The deal marks Seacoast's expansion into the Tampa-St. Petersburg market. The bank has a large presence in the Orlando area market, the largest share of the Port St. Lucie market and is growing rapidly in the West Palm Beach area. The GulfShore deal, pending closing, will push Seacoast's total assets to approximately $4.8 billion.

"Our acquisition of GulfShore, following the announcement last week of our exceptional third quarter results, shows the power of Seacoast's balanced growth strategy,” Seacoast Chairman and CEO Dennis Hudson says in the statement. “GulfShore is an accretive acquisition and a low-risk alternative to de novo expansion into Tampa, an attractive market that is adjacent to Orlando, where our acquisitions of Floridian Financial Corp. and the BMO Harris Orlando banking franchise earlier this year made Seacoast the largest Florida-based bank in this rapidly growing MSA."

GulfShore's President and CEO Joe Caballero will join Seacoast as Tampa market executive and Ed O'Carroll, GulfShore's Executive Vice President and COO, will join Seacoast as a commercial banking manager. Caballero and O'Carroll both have more than 25 years experience in banking and middle market lending and strong, long-standing ties to the Tampa market, the release states.

"Our clients and shareholders will benefit from our combination with Seacoast, a respected, strongly performing, 90-year-old Florida institution that is committed to serving its clients and communities," Caballero says in the statement. "My colleagues look forward to joining Seacoast, and partnering to serve our clients.”

Directors of both Seacoast and GulfShore approved the acquisition. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, subject to approval by GulfShore's shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

The Seacoast deal adds to the list of recent community bank acquisitions.

Polk County-based CenterState Banks, another fast-growing community bank, acquired Brandon-based Platinum Bank Holding Co. in October in an $84 million deal. And Pompano Beach-based Stonegate Bank, in its 10th planned acquisition in the last seven years, announced it bought Sarasota-based Insignia Bank for $36.5 million in a deal announced in August.