Seacoast Commerce Bank is said to be among the ten largest small business administration (SBA) lenders in the US

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Enterprise Financial Services announces $156m merger with Seacoast Commerce Banc. (Credit: Tumisu from Pixabay)

Missouri-based Enterprise Financial Services (EFSC) has agreed to acquire Seacoast Commerce Banc (SCBH), a bank holding company in California, for about $156m or $15.8 per share, in an all-stock deal.

SCBH is the holding company of Seacoast Commerce Bank, which has five full-service banking branches across the US states of California and Nevada. The banking company also has 20 loan production offices and six deposit production offices across various states.

Seacoast Commerce is said to be among the ten largest small business administration (SBA) lenders in the US. In the last 10 years, the Californian bank is claimed to have funded more than $2bn in SBA loans.

As of 30 June 2020, Seacoast Commerce Bank had nearly $1.3bn in total assets, $1.1bn in loans, and $1bn in deposits.

On the other hand, Enterprise Financial Services, which is an $8.4bn financial holding company, is the owner of Enterprise Bank & Trust.

The bank has 34 branch offices in  Missouri, Arizona, Kansas, and New Mexico. It is engaged in providing business and personal banking services, and wealth management services.

The combined bank company after the merger would have nearly $9.7bn in consolidated total assets, as of 30 June 2020.

SCBH CEO Richard Sanborn said: “With Enterprise, we have taken the next step to move our organization forward with a partnership that we believe provides the infrastructure and balance sheet strength to continue our growth path. Both Enterprise and Seacoast have a shared set of values and commitment to service.

“I am excited for what this acquisition will provide for our combined customers, associates, and shareholders.”

As per the terms of the deal, SCBH’s shareholders will exchange each of their shares in return of 0.5061 shares of Enterprise Financial Services. As per the exchange ratio, existing shareholders of Enterprise Financial Services will hold nearly 84% of stake in the combined entity, while SCBH’s shareholders will own the remaining 16% stake.

Seacoast Commerce Bank to merge into Enterprise Bank & Trust

SCBH will be merged into Enterprise Financial Services, while its subsidiary Seacoast Commerce Bank will merge into Enterprise Bank & Trust. Post-merger, Enterprise Financial Services and Enterprise Bank & Trust will be the surviving entities.

Enterprise Financial Services president and CEO Jim Lally said: “We are excited to announce this transaction and believe the combination of the two organizations is an excellent fit for our business model.

“Rick and his team have built an extraordinarily successful SBA platform that will complement our commercial and specialty lending verticals, with the SBA division continuing to be led by David Bartram and Rick Visser.”

The deal is anticipated to close in either late 2020 or early 2021 and will be subject to the meeting of customary closing conditions. These include receipt of regulatory approvals and approval from the shareholders of SCBH.