Bank of the Ozarks Inc. of Little Rock said Thursday that it had completed a deal to buy C1 Financial Inc. of St. Petersburg, Florida, and its wholly owned bank subsidiary, C1 Bank, in all-stock transaction.
The publicly traded bank said the deal was worth $402.5 million when it announced it in November. The move puts the rapidly expanding bank in Miami and Orlando for the first time and makes Bank of the Ozarks the largest bank in Arkansas by assets.
"Bank of the Ozarks is very pleased to complete the acquisition of C1 Bank, providing 33 strategically located and highly complementary Florida offices, including offices in some of Florida's highest growth and strongest economic markets," Chairman and CEO George Gleason said in a news release.
It was the second major bank merger Bank of the Ozarks completed this week. On Wednesday, it finalized its record-setting, $800 million deal to buy Community & Southern Bank of Atlanta, announced in October.
That deal pushed the company further into Georgia, where it now has almost as many branches as it does in Arkansas.
"We expect C1's unique culture and leadership in technology and innovation to be transformational in our quest to be an industry leader in best-in-class customer experiences and operational efficiency," Gleason continued. "We have already begun to implement technology enhancements developed at C1 Bank which will benefit our clients throughout our nine state footprint and provide increased operational efficiencies."
With the closing of the merger, C1 Bank, C1's wholly-owned bank subsidiary, merged with Bank of the Ozarks' wholly owned bank subsidiary.
Trevor Burgess, formerly president and CEO of C1 and founder of C1 Bank, was named chief innovation officer of the company and its bank subsidiary. Alan Randolph, formerly executive vice president and senior lender with C1 Bank, was named Florida division president at Bank of the Ozarks, overseeing the firm's 44 Florida banking offices.
As of June 30, C1 had about $1.7 billion in total assets, $1.4 billion of loans and $1.3 billion of deposits. The asset total pushes Bank of the Ozarks' to $17.9 billion in assets, including the more than $4 billion in assets it took on through the Community & Southern Bank deal.
Privately held Arvest Bank of Bentonville, led by Jim Walton, is now the second-largest bank in Arkansas, with $16.4 billion in assets as of March 31.