South State Corporation and Southeastern Bank Financial Corporation jointly announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement.
Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Augusta, Georgia, Southeastern is the holding company for Georgia Bank & Trust Company of Augusta and also operates as Southern Bank & Trust in Aiken County, South Carolina.
Augusta is the second largest MSA in GA and Georgia Bank & Trust is the largest bank headquartered in the Augusta metro market, where it is ranked second in market share.
This opportunity combines two organizations that have a similar culture, offer the same four lines of business and allow for all 12 banking branches to remain open.
As of March 31, 2016, Southeastern Bank Financial Corporation had approximately $1.9 billion in assets, $1.6 billion in deposits and $1.0 billion in loans. Upon completion of the transaction, the combined company will have approximately $10.5 billion in total assets, $8.7 billion in total deposits, $7.2 billion in total loans and a network of 133 branches in the Carolinas and Georgia.
The merger agreement has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of each company. Pending regulatory and shareholder approvals, the closing and system conversion is scheduled to occur in the first quarter of 2017.
At the closing, Southeastern Bank Financial Corporation will be merged into South State Corporation, and Southeastern’s bank subsidiary, Georgia Bank & Trust Company of Augusta, will be merged into South State’s bank subsidiary, South State Bank.